Fossil Fighters: Revival of the Past
by Irish American 67
Summary: Jason Nack, son of Nick Nack, is expecting a summer of fun doing nothing but reviving dinosaurs. But, when another caste of Dinaurians is found in stone-sleep in the wreckage of another ship on Vivosaur Island, he realizes he may be in for more than he bargained for.
1. Chapter 1

Fossil Fighters 1.1:

Revival of the Past

Chapter 1: Awakening

My name is Jason. My name is Jason Nack. My father is a well-known Fossil Fighter who lives on Vivosaur Island. You may have heard of him, Nick Nack?

Yes, he's a bit odd. Okay, maybe more than a bit. But, he is one of the world's most renowned collectors of... well, everything. Some things, he sells, and makes a humongous profit off of it. But the real treasures, and some less-than-valuable things, he sends home to us to put somewhere in our museum of a home. He doesn't look like much, but with all the things he collects, he's a very wealthy man, and one of the top funders of the Richmond Foundation.

With him being separated from my mom, things are tough on me. Every summer, I spend with my dad on one of his adventures in the world, and I spend the rest of my time with my mom. But I'm looking forward to this summer. This summer, my dad is actually letting me become a Fossil Fighter. I'm going to spend the whole summer digging up Fossils and battling Vivosaurs. My dad is even going to give me my first Vivosaur himself, and he has a large collection of fossilized skulls. He's nearly got at least one of each of the 100 Vivosaurs on Vivosaur Island. So, basically, I get to take my pick from the bunch, and I already know which one I'm going with.

"So, you're on your way to Vivosaur Island, huh?" Captain Travers said. He's in charge of bringing people to Vivosaur Island. "I take it you're going there to become a Fossil Fighter?"

"Yessir, that's right. My dad's finally letting me do it."

"Is he now, Jason? Well, the best of luck to you!"

"Thanks, Captain Tavers."

"Well, tell me. What kind of Vivosaur would you like to train? Carnivores or Herbivores?"

"Both. But I like Carnivores better."

"Right, of course you do! Well, small or large?"

"Small. I like the fast ones."

"Right. Well, any idea what kind of Vivosaur would be your favorite?"

"Deinonychus. I hear it's supposed to be a fire-type raptor-class Vivosaur."

"That it is. I like Nychus myself."

"Nychus?"

"Yeah. Here on Vivosaur Island, the names of the Vivosaurs are shortened so they'd fit in the computer system."

"Why not just make a bigger system?"

"I don't know. But you've got to admit, V-Raptor is much easier to say than Velociraptor."

"I guess. Doesn't make much difference to me, though."

"Didn't think it would. Oh! We're here." Captain Travers pulled up to the pier and let me off, then sped away. Two ladies walked up to me.

"Hello, Jason. Your father is expecting you!"

"Yeah, I know. I know the way. Thanks, Sue, Beth." I walked past them. Yay. I get to go hang out with my oddball dad now. Every teenage boy's dream.

I took my time getting to the hotel. Which, since it was, like, just right there by the harbor, meant that it took me only about five minutes to get there.

The manager sent me up the left elevator to the top floor, a penthouse. I walked in and automatically knew that this was my dad's room, though he wasn't in right then. The floor was covered with useless junk only my dad could find a use for, and articles in the newspaper about some kid who saved the world with his own team of Vivosaurs.

_**Local Fighter Saves Earth: Colossal Victory!**_

_Three months ago, on June 17th, 2014, young Fossil Fighter, Jeromey Hutchins, used his heroic team of vivosaurs to battle a fierce, gigantic monster in space, resulting in its demise, and the prevention of a global apocalypse. While the young hero is modest about his actions, saying he merely did what any Fighter worth his fossils would do, his mentor, peers, and friends say differently._

_ Dr. Diggins, the brains behind the operation at Vivosaur Island, said that Jeromey had shown promise ever since he first came to Vivosaur Island, and cleaned his first fossil, the skull of an Altispinax, a.k.a. Spinax, which he cleaned perfectly with a score of 100 points. Since then, Jeromey rose quickly through the ranks, assisting the police with the capture of several criminals, which included Chief-of-police Bartholomew Bullwort, leader of the BB Bandits, Medal Dealer Joe, and Blambeau. _

_ Rosetta Richmond, granddaughter of the founder of th Richmond Foundation, and Vivosaur Island, says she, too, saw promise in Jeromey from the beginning, when he helped her to recover her Dino Medals from Medal Dealer Joe, and was not surprised when her defeated the Champion of Vivosaur Island, Saurhead, and became a Master Fighter. Rosetta says she witnessed Jeromey's victory over Guhnash, the space monster, firsthand._

_ "It was amazing! He was, as usual, in perfect sync with his Vivosaurs! He commanded them so effortlessly, and Guhnash could barely lay a finger on his vivosaurs! Guhnash had these three humongous brain things in its mouth that it used to try to fight Jeromey's vivosaurs, and they looked scary, but they couldn't touch his vivosaurs! As usual, he used his V-Raptor, that's what we call a velociraptor, anyway, he used it as the leader of his team, and had his guanlong and compsognathus as supporters, and he mainly used V-Raptor's poisin skills to take out the brains."_

_ Both Jeromey and Rosetta spoke of a massive explosion resulting from Guhnash's demise, which caused them to have to turn themselves into stone so they could be revived later by the crew at Vivosaur Island. _

_ But Jeromey Hutchins' heroism did not stop with the destruction of Guhnash. The Stone-Sleep Inducer, which was given to them by an advanced race of reptillian extraterrestrials called the Dinaurians, malfunctioned because of radiation leakage from Guhnash's brains, and when Rosetta was revived, she had a severe case of memory loss, causing her to forget even her own name for a time._

_ By performing a ritualistic dance learned from the local Digadig tribe, Jeromey was able to restore Rosetta's memory to her. Whether the dance actually had mystical properties that cured Rosetta's amnesia, or simply the sight of Jeromey performing such a familiar dance to Rosetta managed somehow to jog her memory remains to be seen, but whatever happened, Rosetta Richmond is back to normal, now only troubled with mild amnesia._

_ Since then, Jeromey has been challenged to Fossil Battles day in and day out by aspiring Fossil Fighters, including his rival, the former champion Saurhead, and funders of the Richmond Foundation such as Nevada Montecarlo, Nick Nack, and the hotel's resident samurai. But, the fame has not gone to Jeromey's head. He still makes time to go out digging, cleaning fossils, reviving vivosaurs, and even going on dates with his girlfriend._

_ Rosetta Richmond commented on his relationship. "Did I used to like Jeromey? Of course! I still like him! He's my best friend! Did I used to like him romantically? Duh! I mean, sure,he's famous, but I liked him before he was famous, before he was even really even a Level 4 Fighter. He saved me on multiple occasions, and he went out of his way to make everyone around him feel special. I guess I admired him for that._

_ "Do I think it's wierd that he's dating a Dinaurian? An alien? Um... I guess so? I mean, sure, she's pretty, I guess, but I guess I just don't see why. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm happy for them, and I support them 100%, I just don't understand it is all I'm saying. Do I still like him romantically? Well... I don't know. I'm not going to confirm or deny it, because I'm not sure myself. Wait a second, please don't print this in the news! God, that would be embarassing."_

I put the paper down as my dad walked in.

"Ah! Buenos noches, mi hermano!" He said to me.

"Uh, dad? It's the middle of the day, not night time, and you just called me your brother."

"Oh. Well, you know how language is, nothing's set in stone."

"Uh, actually, it kind of is. Each word has one or two very specific meanings. Noches means night, hermano means brother. And what happened to French? I thought you liked French?"

"French is sooo yesterday's perro."

"Yesterday's dog?"

"Oh, is that what that means? Huh. The Chief of the Digadig tribe has been teaching me the language of Gato. That means Spanish in Spanish."

"Not, that means cat. Español is Spanish in Spanish. I could teach you better Spanish than that."

"Oh. Well, in any case. Are you ready to have a fun-filled summer?"

"Yeah. I'm planning on getting my first fossil, then reviving it and getting my Fighter's License right away, then it's nothing but dig, clean, revive and battles all summer long."

"What?"

"Yeah. Remember, you said I could finally become a Fossil Fighter this summer."

"What? No, I said maybe next summer."

"No, you said _this_ summer."

"I'm fairly certain I said when you're eighteen."

"What?! No! That's two years from now! You said this summer!"

"Oh. Well, I meant when you turn nineteen."

"You keep going up a year each time!"

"No, I've been saying twenty this entire time."

"You're unbelieveable!" I stormed out of the room. I guess I'm not getting my Gigantosaurus fossil after all.

I left the hotel in a hurry, then was run into by some girl who was running around in circles.

"Ow!" I snapped, a little too loudly.

"Sorry about that. Sometimes I get going so fast that I can't stop. I'm Penny."

"Sorry. Didn't mean to snap. I'm Jason."

"Well, to say I'm sorry, let me give you a tip. If you hit the B button while you're walking, you can run really fast." With that, she ran off, and I was left standing there, confused.

Suddenly, a door opened beside me, and I realized I was standing in front of the Fossil Center. A boy about my age came out, wearing black shorts, gloves and hat with red hair, and an orange shirt, shoes, and band around the hat.

I recognized him from the paper I'd just read. This was Jeromey Hutchins.

I'm not one to be star struck, so I struck up a casual conversation with him.

"Hey, any idea what that girl, Penny, was talking about? Something about a B button?"

"Yeah, she says that a lot. If you ask me, she runs into things way too often, might have a bit of brain damage. Why aren't you stumbling over your words right now? Ever since I beat Guhnash, everyone stutters around me."

"Are you really this much of a narcissist?"

"What? No, I'm just curious. I actually kind of like it. Not the stumbling thing, the fact that you don't. Makes me feel like I'm not a celebrity for once, just a regular guy."

"Oh. That's cool. If it makes any difference, I hadn't heardof you until I read that article in the paper about it just this morning."

"Ah. Well, that explains it. Yeah, last summer was very eventful. So, you staying in the hotel?"

"Yup. Floor ten, room 104."

"Oh, yikes. You're neighbors with Nick Nack. He's a bit insane, just a fair warning."

"Don't need it, but thanks."

"Why? You already met him?"

"You could say that. I've known him all my life. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Jason Nack."

"Wait, Nick is your dad?!"

"Yeah. But don't worry, I don't take offense to the 'insane' comments. They're all true."

"Huh. Well, sorry anyway. Hey, you going out digging today?"

"No. I'm not even a Fighter."

"But you want to be one?"

"Yeah. I love vivosaurs."

"Come with me." Jeromey pulled me inside and lead me to an office in the back of the Fossil Center. "Hey, Dr. Diggins!" He shouted.

"No need to shout, Jeromey. I'm right here. What's up?"

"Jason here wants to be a Fossil Fighter."

"Oh? Well, you'll need a license and a vivosaur, first. Take him to the lab and talk to KL-33N. That bot might have some Greenhorn fossils left from the Greenhorn Expo."

"Alright." Jeromey led me out of Dr. Diggins' office and to a lab on the other side of the Fossil Center.

"What's a Greenhorn?" I asked.

"What?"

"A Greenhorn. Never heard of it. Is it related to the Triceratops?"

"Oh! No, Greenhorn Plains is a dig site here on Vivo Island. It's actually the first dig site available to Level 1 Fighters. Unless you've got special access, of course. As Nick Nack's son, seeing as he's a prominent figure on this island, you might be able to get clearance into a few other sites once you've got your license. Here we are. Hey, KL-33N."

"Hello, Master Jeromey. Your cleaning submission has been completed. To you collection of vivosaurs, I have integrated a total of five higher-grade fossil parts, and donated 34 lower-grade parts for an increase of 128 Donation Points. On yourbehalf, I have integrated a Smilo head. Previously 81 pts, I have increased it to a total of 93 pts, giving it the 12 pts needed to rank up to rank 10. It now needs 50 more points to increase its rank to Rank 11. I have also integrated a Mammoth body. Previously 60 pts, I have increased it to a total of 90 pts, giving it the 21 pts it needed to rank up to Rank 8. It now needs 41 pts to rank up to Rank 9. I have also integrated a Tro body. Previously 76 pts, I have increased it to a total of 98 pts, giving it 22 out of the 29 points it needed to become a Rank 11. It now needs 7 points to rank up to Rank 11. I have also integrated a Proto leg. Previously 54 points, I increased it to 91 pts, giving it 22 more points than necessary to become a Rank 12. Finally, I also integrated a Chelon body. Previously 94 points, I have increased it to 95 points, giving it 1 out of the 5 points it needed to become a Rank 12. It now needs 4 points to rank up to Rank 12. I hope you are pleased with my work."

"As usual, KL-33N, I am very pleased." Jeromey said with a smile. "While I've got you, do you have any more fossils from the Greenhorn Expo.? Jason here wants to be a Fighter, and he needs hs first vivo."

"Certainly. Unfortunately, I have only V-Raptor heads and Shanshan heads left. The rest are assorted bodies, arms and legs."

"Well, there's your choice, Jason." Jeromey said.

"I'll take a V-Raptor head, if that's alright."

"An excellent choice, to be sure." KL-33N said, then went into a back room and brought out a Velociraptor skull. "Simply clean that skull to the best of your ability, then I will put it in the revival chamber. There are plenty, so don't worry if you break it the first time or two."

I took the skull and put it on the table. Jeromey handed me a drill, a brush, a hammer and an X-Ray machine to work with.

"Any tips for me?" I asked.

"I'd use the X-Ray to start with, so you can get an idea of where to work, then use the hammer to bust open a few outer layrs of rock. Then use the drill to carve the bone away from the rock carefully. Use your breath and the brush to get the extra dust off so you can see what you're doing."

"Thanks." I said, then set to work.

When I was finished, Jeromey looked at it with KL-33N.

"Not bad. I'd give you an 83 score." Jeromey said.

"But Master, this is clearly worth a score of at least 85." the bot said.

"No it's not, unfortunately. See that scratch there? It's shallow, but it'll still affect it. I'd score it as an 83."

"Oh yes, Master. Astute as always."

"Well, it's still good enough to revive." Jeromey said to me, then handed me the skull. He opened the Revival Chamber and had meput the skull in. He pressed some buttons, then had me press my thumb on a thumb pad. It scanned my thumb, then the chamber started glowing. There was a bright light, and a blue dinosaur was standing in the skull's place when the light faded. "There's your V-Raptor." Jeromey said, then clapped me on the back.

The velociraptor started glowing whte, then it shrunk down to a small white coin. It had a single green stripe on the very edge, and a small image of the V-Raptor on both sides.

I opened the chamber and took out the coin. I flipped it into the air, and the V-Raptor sprang out, roaring.

"Well, you've got your first vivosaur. Why don't we go teach you the basics of using them?"

"Okay." I held my hand out to V-Raptor, and it morphed back into the Dino Medal. I slipped the medal into my pocket and ran after Jeromey.

Jeromey walked up to a blue vending machine near the docks and pulled a lever on the side.

The words "Account Name" appeared on an electronic screen. Jeromey hit a few keys on the electronic keyboard, and his account popped up. Three computer files were shown, and only two of them had any data. He selected the third file, the empty one.

"Type in the Team Name" popped up. He typed in "Team 3" and hit "enter".

"Add at least one vivosaur" appeared next, replacing the old message. A rundown of all the vivosaurs Jeromey had revived and trained appeared, listing their codename, integrated fossils, number of Battle Points, and their Rank. Jeromey selected one of his Rank 1 vivosaurs, an F-Raptor, or Fukuiraptor. He hit "enter", and exited out, then selected "Team 3" as his active team.

"Please deposit current vivosaurs in the Vivosaur Management Machine (VMM)" appeared on the screen, and he slid five Dino Medals into a slot on the VMM. Once the last Dino Medal was gone, another medal came out of another opening and landed in a small tray.

It was white, and had one yellow stripe on the edge, an image of an F-Raptor on both sides.

"Come on." He said as he logged out of his account and turned the VMM off. He lead me away from the dock and into the Park Area. He took me to a large, empty field, and had me stand on one end while he walked to the other.

"Call your V-Raptor!" He shouted, and I took out my medal, then flipped it. V-Raptor exploded from the medal, roaring, and landing in front of me.

Jeromey flipped his medal as well, and F-Raptor erupted, showing off just as much as V-Raptor had.

"Okay! You start! Tell V-Raptor what to do! Veloci-Claw is his basic attack, and the only one you have access to right now!"

"Okay. V-Raptor, Veloci-Claw!" I shouted, and V-Raptor charged forward, fast as lightning, and jumped, raking his claws up F-Raptor's chest, then connecting with its chin. V-Raptor retreated, then stared at F-Raptor.

"Savage Bite!" I heard Jeromey shout, and F-Raptor charged V-Raptor, opening its mouth. He dropped his head and tried to bite V-Raptor.

"Dodge it!" I shouted, and V-Raptor responded. He crouched down, then ran, faster than before, and ran between F-Raptor's legs. I rolled out of harm's way as F-Raptor bolted passed me.

"It's dangerous to have your vivosaurs dodge an attack, because you never know if you might get hit instead. But nice roll." I heard a female voice behind me. I turned to see two girls walking up to me. One of them was the girl I'd seen in the paper, Rosetta Richmond. She wore pink. Her hair was pink, her shirt, skirt and hat were pink, and she wore white gloves and shoes.

But she wasn't the one that caught my eye. The other girl was, in a word, inhuman. She had blue skin, pink hair and striped on her face, and pointy elf ears. She had on some blue pants of some kind that V'd down almost to her... unmentionables, if her external anatomy was even the same as a human woman's. Her knees were also exposed. She wore a piece of pink cloth around her chest, leaving her stomach and shoulders expose, and a blue jacket that went down to her wrists, and matching blue gloves. She had a light blue tail that kept twitchin behind her.

_So, this is a Dinaurian._ I thought to myself. I had to admit, even though I still preferred human females, she was gorgeous.

"I take it you are put off by my alien appearance?" she asked.

"No, not at all. In fact, you're very beautiful. I've just never seen one of you before. It's kind of new to me. I mean, my father has sent letters describing Dinaurians before, but I've still never actually seen one."

"I see. And you are not merely saying this to appease me and prevent yourself from causing me emotional distress?"

"Um... no?"

"You do not sound so sure."

"Well, to be fair, I don't know what you just said."

"I apologize. I merely assumed that you were fluent in English since it is the language you first used to socially approach me with. May I ask what your primary language is? Or is that question a contradiction to the law prohibiting predjudice against those of other ethnic groups?"

"Huh?"

"She's asking what language you're most fluent in." Rosetta said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh. English."

"But I thought you implied that you were not exceptionally fluent in English when you stated that you did not understand what I said?"

"Oh, no, that's not what I meant. I just mean that I'm not used to hearing all that kind of sophisticated speaking. I'm fluent in English, I just don't have that great of a vocabulary."

"I see. Then you are of a lower caste within the human heirarchy than those whose vocabulary skills are excedingly advanced."

"Um... no? I'm not sure. But, we don't really use a caste system anymore. I guess I'm what most people consider to be a Higher-class American. I mean, my family isn't exactly in any financial trouble at the moment, but I don't go out of my way to make myself sound smart, either."

"I see. I do not understand why you would not want to learn everything you possibly could about your own culture and language, though I recognize that it your own choice to make. I am Duna."

"Oh. Hi. I'm Jason."

"And I'm-"

"Rosetta Richmond. I know, I saw a newspaper article about Jeromey's battle against Guhnash this morning, and your picture was on it, too."

"Wow. Your dad still has that article? That was written last summer. The only people I know that still have it are my Grandpa, Dr. Diggins and that crazy guy in the hotel, Nick Nack."

"Yup, that's him. My name's Nack. Jason Nack."

"Oh..."

"Don't worry about it. I completely agree with you."

"By the way, I prefer Rosie, not Rosetta. Rosetta makes me sound like a several-thousand year old hunk of rock with ancient words written all over my face."

"Sorry." I smiled.

Duna walked passed me and ran up to Jeromey. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him on the lips.

_So, she's the alien girlfriend, huh?_

"Yep. They've been dating ever since he beat Guhnash."

"I didn't realize I said that out loud."

"You do that a lot, don't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"When we walked up, you whispered "So this is a Dinaurian." under your breath."

"Oh. I guess I do, then."

"I'd work on that if I were you." Rosie suggested, and her face was set, like she was angry.

"What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"You look angry."

"What? No, I'm not angry. This is just my face. This is how I always look."

"You didn't look that way in the picture in the newspaper. Then, you looked happy."

"That was before Guhnash was killed. Before the world almost ended. Before the Dinaurians started living with us. Before-"

"Before Jeromey and Duna started dating?"

"What?" She asked after a moment's hesitation.

"I'm pretty good at reading people, you know. You didn't look angry until you just saw Duna kiss Jeromey. So, here's what I think has happened, and correct me if I'm wrong. But, for now, just humor me. You met Jeromey, he helped get your Dino Medals back from Medal Dealer Joe. I read about that in the paper. You two became friends, went on some adventures, and maybe even discovered the Dinaurians together. I'm guessing there was some connection between the Dinaurians and Guhnash, because he didn't show until they did.

"The transporter or whatever it was that youused to get to Guhnash could only carry two people, and you and Duna both wanted to go, but Jeromey was the only one with strong enough vivosaurs to beat him, so he had to be one of the two. So, he made a choice on who to take with him: the gorgeous Dinaurian girl, or the girl he'd been friends with since he got to Vivosaur Island, who he'd had several adventures with and even saved a few times before. He chose you, so you thought he liked you, and you were happy.

"Then, he beat Guhnash, you got amnesia, and when he helped cure it, you thought, once again, that he liked you, and that you two would start dating. Then, you find out that he and Duna are dating, and it angers and frustrates you. You resent Duna, and, to an extent, Jeromey. Now whenever you see them together, you can't stand to be around them, because it reminds you of what you missed out on. You like hanging out with them both, just not together, because when you've got one of them alone, you can almost imagine that they aren't together and you still have a chance with him. Did I get any of that right?"

"That's... actually very accurate." Rosie sighed. "How'd you guess all that?You don't even know me."

"Well, when you walked up to me with Duna, you didn't seem upset. You actually looked like you were having fun. Then, you saw Jeromey over there, and you looked at him longingly. Then, when Duna walked up to him, you didn't go with her. You just hung back here and watched. You chose talking to a complete and total stranger over hanging out with your two best friends. Not to mention the article I read earlier. You said you didn't know how you felt about Jeromey, and that you didn't really understand their relationship. I'm guessing that's at least partially changed by now, seeing as it's been almost a year since that article was published."

"Yeah. Now, I know exactly how I feel, and I do understand them, now, but I still don't like it. Huh. That's wierd. I actually feel comfortable talking to you, even thought I've never met you before."

"Yeah. I've been told I'm easy to talk to."

"Well, what am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know. I only just met the three of you. You're the only one I really know anything about, other than the fact that Duna's a Dinaurian, which I still know nothing about, and Jeromey saved the world."

"Oh."

"Hey, Jason! You wanna keep going, or are you done for now?!" Jeromey asked.

"Yeah! Let's finish!" I shouted.

"Savage Bite!" F-Raptor charged again.

"Dodge!" V-Raptor tried to escape, but I was too late. F-Raptor bit down on V-Raptor's tail, then picked him up. He swung V-Raptor around by the tail, and threw him. V-Raptor hit the ground, hard, but got up again."Veloci-Claw!"

V-Raptor ran forward again, slashing wildly at F-Raptor, but his earthen armor was strong. Eventually, V-Raptor wore himself out attacking F-Raptor, and Jeromey counterattacked.

"Savage Bite!" F-Raptor bit V-Raptor on the back, picked him up, then slammed him down on the groud again. V-Raptor started glowing white, then morphed back into a Dino Medal. The medal returned to my hand automatically, somehow, and I slipped it into my pocket. Jeromey held out his hand, and F-Raptor charged, then jumped. He morphed back into a Dino Medal in mid-air, and landed in the palm of Jeromey's hand. He slipped the medal into his pocket, wrapped his arm around Duna's waist, and walked over to Rosie and I.

"Hey, Rosie." He said with a smile.

"Hi." She replied, looking away casually.

"Jason, I've got to admit, even thought I kicked your butt, you're pretty good. You nearly beat my F-Raptor at Rank 1, even though you had the type disadvantage. Wind-type vivosaurs, like V-Raptor, are at an elemental disadvantage against Earth-type ones, like F-Raptor."

"Huh. Cool."

"Well, Grandpa is probably wondering where I am right now, so I should probably go." Rosie said, looking at me, though she obviously said it for Jeromey's benefit. She turned and walked away.

"I should go, too. King Dynal will be wondering where I am as well. He said he has some important matters to discuss with me concerning our stay here on Earth. I will be back later, however, so you may expect to see me again today, Jeromey-_heragh_." Duna kissed Jeromey again, then hit a button on a pendant. She started glowing, then she disappeared.

"So, just us, again, huh?" I asked.

"Yeah. So, tell me, what did you think of my girlfriend?"

"Duna? She's... eccentric? Her English is a bit sophisticated, like she's trying too hard to be a human. She's beautiful, though. You're a lucky guy."

"I wouldn't call her eccentric, exactly. I mean, sure, she's different, but she's a Dinaurian. They have different customs than we do. But, I think you're right abouher trying too hard to be human. She's just worried that one day, I'll wake up and not like her because she's an alien. She doesn't want to be ridiculed. She just wants to be accepted."

"I can understand that."

"Yeah. So, what about Rosie?"

"What about Rosie?"

"What do you think of her?"

"Um... Well, she's cool. I'm not much of a fan of pink, but I guess she makes it work for her. She really seems to care about y-... vivosaurs. She loves them, I can tell. She wouldn't stop talking about... vivosaurs."

"Yeah... vivosaurs. A common interest amongst almost everyone on Vivo Island."

"So what does herag mean?"

"What?"

"Duna. She called you Jeromey herag."

"Oh, _heragh_. According to Duna, it's a Dinaurian word used as a title for a male a female has strong emotional attachments to. _Heragh_ is the title used to symbolize a romantic attachment, _artegh_ basically means a sibling, and c_hronogh_ means father."

"So you speak Dinaurian?"

"No. I only know a few words that Duna told me. The Dinaurian language, from what I can tell, is a very contradictory language. It's both complex and simple. It's both general and specific."

"Okay? What does that mean?"

"It means that it would take a genius to learn how to speak it fluently and actually understand what was being said."

"Oh. Well, I'm not genius, so I won't even try to learn."

"You and me both. So, what do you think of Rosie?"

"You already asked that."

"I know, I'm just looking for a more detailed answer than 'she's cool'."

"Well, she's pretty, she's smart, she seems nice, and I doubt she'd appreciate you trying to set her up on a date with a total stranger."

"What?"

"Come on, I can tell that's what you're doing. You're trying to get me to ask her out. Or at least trying to find out if I'm interested in her. I only just met her. I know virtually nothing about her."

"Well, what do you want to know?"

"Her social security number, her password into the security mainframe here on Vivsaur Island, her credit card information, any and all aliases she uses, and what she had for breakfast on this day last summer."

"Yogurt."

"What?"

"Yogurt. You said you wanted to know what she had for breakfast on this day last summer. It was yogurt."

"You actually remember what someone else had for breakfast last summer?"

"No. I know what Rosie had for breakfast every day last summer."

"How?"

"Because during the summer, she has yogurt for breakfast every day. She has since she was six. She told me that, and I've never seen her eat anything else for breakfast during the summer but yogurt."

"What flavor?"

"Strawberry, because she likes pink, and she's allergic to cherries."

"Wow. For someone with a girlfriend, yo really know a lot about the girl who isn't her."

"I just pay attention. To everyone around me, really. And I have an eidetic memory. For example, I know that the hotel manager is dating Wendy, Dr. Diggins' secretary at the Fossil Center. Every one of their breaks coincidentally occurs at the same time, and they always take their breaks at the same place together. They both go to the shop, buy a pack of Dino Cakes and some burgers, then come here, to the Park Area, and sit near the tyrannosaurus skeleton near the Fighter's Area gate."

"So? Who cares if they're dating? Why would they keep it a secret?"

"Because Manny, the manager, is married to Beth, the harbor receptionist."

"Whoa. I didn't know that."

"Most people don't. Only Richmond and Dr. Diggins do, because they're the bosses of everyone on this island. But I saw their wedding bands, and they match perfectly."

"What else?"

"Monica, one of the lounge singers at the hotel, is gay."

"What?!"

"Yeah. She and Clara, another of the lounge singers, are dating."

"How can you tell?"

"Because in each of their performances, they always sneak glances at each other, and the look on their faces doesn't say 'best friends', it says 'I want to check her out' or 'God, I want to kiss her'. Plus, you can always tell when they just got done sleeping together, because they blush during their performances when they look at each other."

"Whoa. You're very observant."

"Also, I've even got a bit of dirt on Dr. Diggins."

"What?!"

"Yeah. You probably don't know how huge this is, because you're new here, but he doesn't actually like the shop's Dino Cakes."

"Um... okay?"

"Like I said, you probably don't get how huge that is. But, he always has to buy as many as he can, and pretend he's absolutley in love with them."

"Why?"

"Because, Vivocorp., the company that makes the Dino Cakes, is sponsoring Dr. Diggins' research, they're paying for his equipment and the power he uses in his experiments. If he doesn't endorse the Dino Cakes, then people will stop buying them and Vivocorp. will lose a lot of money. They'll pull their funding. Dr. Diggins cares far too much about his work to let that happen. Dino Cakes are so popular that they alone make Vivocorp. millions of dollars a week. And really, it's only because Dr. Diggins, the world's leading paleontologist, endorses them."

"Wow. You must have a lot of time on your hands to have researched all of that."

"Nope. I just overheard Richmond and Diggins talking one day a few months ago, and they said something about Vivocorp. funding Dr. Diggins' work. Then, I bought some Dino Cakes and saw Vivocorp.'s logo on the wrapper. Later that week, I saw Dr. Diggins vomiting after eating a Dino Cake. At first, I thought he might have just been sick or something, but then I saw him do it again the next day after eating another Dino Cake. I watched him after that, and every time he eats a Dino Cake, his face turns a little green, and he has to excuse hmself to go throw up. After he does, he comes back, and he's fine."

"Huh."

"Yeah."

"Got anything on my dad?"

"Nothing that isn't obvious. Everyone knows everything about him, because he doesn't try to hide anything."

"So he's not having any affairs?"

"Nope. None. Though, I doubt it's from lack of trying, honestly, I doubt any of the women here would want to go out with him, except maybe the Mask Lady in the shop, but she's married to the store clerk."

"Well, that's good news. My mom has been worried sick that he was sleeping around out here."

"Well, he's not."

"Okay. Well, I'd better go see about getting my Fighter's license."

"Can't."

"Why not?"

"Because your V-Raptor got knocked out. When your vivosaur gets knocked out, it can't come out of the Dino Medal until it wakes back up. That should take about ten hours. It's why you're supposed to return to the hotel after you lose a battle. Of course, if you've got an entire team of vivosaurs, then the vivosaurs that don't get knocked out can give some of their energy to the ones that do, and wake them up immediately. So if you lose a vivosaur, but win a battle, you can battle right away again because the vivo that got knocked out is automatically woken up by the others. And the best part is, when they come out ofthe medals, even if they were only a single hit away from being knocked out during the last battle, if they survive it, then the next time you bring them out ofthe medals, they're back to full strength! But it'll be a while before you can take your Fighter's Test."

"Oh. Well, what'll I do until then?"

"You could go back to your room and sleep. That'll kill some time before you can test."

"Okay. Good idea. I'm still tired from the boat ride, anyway."

"Okay. I'll be at Fossil Stadium if you need me. I've got several battle challenges, and I need to go put some beginners in their place!" Jeromey joked.

I went back to the hotel and rested. I was so tired from today that I slept clear until morning the next day.

I heard a knock at my door. So that's what had awakened me.

I got up, and changed out of yesterday's clothes into a pair of black jeans and tucked a plain black t-shirt in. I put on a simple black belt. I liked black. I put on a pair of black boots and a red and black plaid shirt. I snapped all but the top two snaps, and didn't bother tucking it in. I put on my black fedora and answered the door.

"Oh. Hey, dad."

"Oh-la, my ee-ho. How's that for Spanish? I've been thinking about what we talked about yesterday, and I've decided that once you turn 21, you can become a Fossil Fighter."

I slammed the door in his face.

"Okay, okay! I'm not unreasonable. I can negotiate! How's 22 sound to you?"

I opened the door again, then stormed passed him, slamming the door behind me, then went down to the lobby. I saw the lounge girls performing, and decided to go ahead and watch a show.

I noticed what Jeromey had been talking about the previous day. Two of the girls, I can only assume they were Clara and Monica, kept stealing glances at each other when they thought no one was looking. I noticed a slight reddening in their cheeks as they smiled at each other.

_So Jeromey was right! They just slept together!_ I thought, making sure I didn't say it out loud. That would have been extremely embarassing.

When the performance was over, I clapped for them, and left. I went to Fossil Stadium and signed up for my Fighter's Test, then went into the waiting room to... er... wait.

Ten minutes later, Jeromey walked in.

"Whoa. It's about time you showed up. I need a break."

"What?"

"I've only slept five hours since you saw me yesterday. I've been battling nonstop since then. I need to eat."

"Oh. Okay. I'm here to take my test, anyway."

"Good luck. Though, you shouldn't need it. The first test is easy. It's desgined to make sure you can get you license. You just need to know the basics." Jeromey left to get something to eat, promising to be there to watch my battle.

I was told by the secretary in the lobby that I would be required to take a simple cleaning test before my battle test, so I went through the door to the right of the lobby and talked to a yellow robot that resembled KL-33N.

"Hello, I am KL-34N. I will be administering your cleaning test today. You must clean the fossil to a standard of at least 50 pts. Good luck."

I cleaned the fossil, and when the timer ran out, there was only a bit of rock left on the fossil. Obviously, it was a fake, they wouldn't use _real_ fossils for a test.

"Not bad." KL-34N said monotonously, like a robot usually does. "Scoring... Scoring... Scoring... 87 pts. Your cleaning skills are above average. Your test results allow you to proceed to your Battle Test. Are you clear on the rules of a battle?"

"Yes, I am."

"Very well then. You may proceed into Fossil Stadium." KL-34N hovered over to a hole in the wall and powered down as the doors beside me opened up into a large colosseum. The field of battle resembled many of the pictures of deserts I'd seen, but with large boulders scattered all around.

"Welcome, Jason Nack!" A booming voice rang throughout the arena. "As you are not yet a licensed Fighter, you will be testing for your Fighter's License. The battle will be between Captain Travers and Jason Nack! Both Fighters are allowed to use only one Vivosaur, and the battle is over when either vivosaur has been reverted to its Dino Medal! Do the Fighters understand and accept these rules?"

"Yes!" I shouted as I saw Captain Travers on the other end of the stadium.

"Yes!" He shouted back.

"Very well, then. Let the battle commense!" The crowd screamed as we tossed our medals into the air. A vivosaur remarkably similar to a Pachycephalosaurus emerged from Captain Travers' medal. It was blue and green, mostly, with many other colors as well.

"Meet my Goyocephale!" Travers said with a smile.

My V-Raptor roared at the sky, stealing everyone's attention.

After V-Raptor had calmed down, Travers decided to go first.

"Rock Head, Goyo!" Goyocephale stamped its foot into the ground a few times, then ran right at V-Raptor. It was fast, but V-Raptor was faster.

"Dodge it, then Veloci-Claw!" V-Raptor stepped off to the side, then brought its claws up and delivered a powerful uppercut, sending Goyo sailing back to its own side of the field. Goyo crashed into a boulder, its head smashing it into powder.

Goyo stood up again, and Travers had it use Rock head again. This time, V-Raptor didn't react in time to dodge. Goyo's head caught V-Raptor right in the chest, and he crumpled to the ground.

"Rock Head, while he's down!" Goyo smashed his head into V-Raptor's side again, and it looked like my vivosaur was about to faint.

"Rock Head, finish him off!" Travers was surprizingly merciless.

"V-Raptor, roll!" V-Raptor barely responded in time, but he rolled to safety, and got back up on his feet. Goyo's head hit the ground and got buried in the sand like an ostrich.

"Veloci-Claw!" V-Raptor ran up to Goyo and clawed him in the face just as he got his head out of the ground, and Goyo was slammed backwards by V-Raptor's strength.

"Rock Head!" Goyo slammed his head upwards, not trying to hit V-Raptor, but only to get off the ground before he was finished. Goyo shot into the air like a missile, but V-Raptor thrust his claws forward and got him in the stomach as he touched the ground again. Goyo fell down, face-first and started glowing. He returned to his Dino Medal and flew back to Travers' hand. V-Raptor roared triumphantly as I called him back to my hand as a medal.

"Congradulations, Jason Nack. You are now a certified Fossil Fighter!" The voice yelled, and Dr. Diggins walked up to me with a plastic card. It had my picture on it, my name in red lettering beside it, and under my name was my rank, 1, how many vivosaurs I'd revived, also 1, and the date the license was issued, today.

"Congradulations, Jason." Dr. Diggins said, and Jeromey, Rosie and Duna appeared behind him. Along with them were two other Dinaurians. Like Duna, they had blue skin and pink tatoos. One of them had purple hair that came to a point, two strips of hair coming down on either side of his face. He wore a lavender suit that was molded perfectly to his body, and some kind of armor on top of that. It was mainly blue, with an olive green cloth wrapped around his abdomen. He had small plates of (metal?) around his thighs and some blue sabaons on his feet. His tail was exposed in the back. His belly button, which Dinaurians apparently _did_ have was exposed by a diamond-shaped hole in his lavender undersuit, along with his knees.

The other Dinaurian, however, was obviously important. He had long, white hair and dark circles around his eyes. He had pink horns that protruded from his hair like a crown, and behind him, blue metal disks hovered like wings coming from his head. He wore a long, blue v-neck robe with pointed shoulders, and teal sabatons not unlike the other male Dinaurian's on his feet.

"Jason, I would like to introduce to you, King Dynal of the Dinaurians, and Raptin, my former partner." Duna said, and each Dinaurian bowed in turn.

"It is very nice to meet you, Mr. Jason. I hear you are new to the island,and yet, you have already piqued my colleague, Dr. Diggins' interest." King Dynal said.

"Um... I don't know about that, but, yessir, I'm new here."

"I would like to keep tags on you, if you find that agreeable." King Dynal said, and bent down so Duna could whisper in his ear. "Excuse me, what I meant to say was "tabs". I would like to keep "tabs" on you, not "tags"."

"Um... okay?" King Dynal nodded, then left. Raptin smirked and followed him out.

"Well, anyway, great battle, Jason." Jeromey said.

"Yeah. That was awesome. You're going to be great one day." Rosie agreed. Duna nodded, then followed Raptin and King Dynal out of the arena. Rosie relaxed visibly when she was gone.

"Well, I look forward to watching your career progress." Dr. Diggins said with a smile, then left.

"Thanks." I said to Jeromey and Rosie, and we all left.


	2. Chapter 2

Fossil Fighters 1.1:

Revival of the Past

Chapter 2: Point-of-View Number 2

My name is Naithis. Naithis Kahmp XLIV (44). I am a Dinaurian. If you live on Vivosaur Island, and have seen the dinaurians there, you know how almost all of them look alike. That's because they're all clones. When Guhnash attacked our homeworld, only five Dinaurians survived. They were our king, Dynal XVI, and four of his elite soldiers: Duna Nichs, Raptin Dinon, Naithis Kahmp and Tirryx Gwonlan. Obviously, when I say Naithis Kahmp, I'm talking about the original Naithis Kahmp. He was the one who was cloned, the one the rest of us Dinaurians are modeled after. It's because out of the five survivors of the Guhnash apocalypse, only Naithis was suitable for cloning. His DNA was the only strand that could successfully be cloned without destroying the machine and/or killing the strand.

As I am one of his clones, I have all of his memories up to the day I was cloned. Since then, each clone has become his own person, completely different from each other and the original due to separate experiences. Unfortunately, the cloning process altered our genetic makeup, and none of the clones are able to change form. We have to rely on Dinomatons now. You will notice I said "his" own person. That is because Naithis was a male Dinaurian. As were Raptin and King Dynal. That means that there are only two female Dinaurians left: Tirryx and Duna. That means that the only way for our species to survive without completely relying on cloning repeatedly, is for Duna and Tirryx to bare multiple heirs. And hope for some female heirs.

We sought to change this by recreating the Dinaurian race through evolution. We planted seeds from our own ancient ancestors on some far away planet and sent ourselves into stone-sleep to await the day that our race would rise again from the ashes of our people.

I, XLIV, was on that ship orbiting that planet, housing the Idolcomps when evolution took a turn we did not expect, and the Main Idolcomp tried to use the regression rays to correct the error. The Sub-Idolcomps separated themselves, causing our ship to crash to the ground. The ship still had enough power to last for millions of years, however, and so it still fueled our stone-sleep. When the ship runs out of power, the stone-sleep of any, and all, Dinaurians will end, and we shall wake up.

I was disoriented, at first. I knew that would happen. I had expected it. But I'd never experienced it before, so I actually hadn't known what to expect. Now I know.

I hit a button on the inside of my pod and the glass window flew away, shattering on the far wall. I looked into my memories and found a few updates to my genetic programming.

I looked through both new and old programs, doing a biological systems check.

[PROGRAMS LOADING...]

[RUNNING LIST OF ALL PROGRAMS...]

I didn't know what language this was, or even how I could understand it. Perhaps it was an update.

[PROGRAM LIST COMPLETE. DISPLAYING DATA IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER...]

[BASIC DATA:

NAME: NAITHIS KAHMP

CLONE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER: _XLIV/__44/__Exliv_

DINOMATON ACTIVATION QUALIFICATION: AFFIRMATIVE]

[BASIC PROGRAMMING:

OBJECTIVE: REVIVAL OF DINARIAN RACE

MEANS OF ACCOMPLISHMENT: EVOLUTION THROUGH _PROJECT: MOTHER PLANET_

PROJECT MOTHER PLANET: SUB-IDOLCOMPS LINKED TO MAIN IDOLCOMP. SEEDS OF LIFE PLANTED ON UNINHABITED PLANET. STONE-SLEEP INDUCED ON ALL DINAURIANS AWAITING COMPLETION OF _PROJECT: MOTHER PLANET_. MAIN IDOLCOMP EQUIPPED WITH REGRESSION RAYS SET TO REVERT ALL LIFE TO EARLIER STAGE OF EVOLUTION UNTIL DESIRED FORM ATTAINED.

STATUS OF PROJECT: MOTHER PLANET: _FAILURE _IN PROGRESS]

[PRIORITIES:

PRIORITY 1: COMPLETION OF _PROJECT: MOTHER PLANET_

PRIORITY 2: SURVIVAL

PRIORITY 3: NO OTHER PRIORITIES EXIST

UPON SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF _PROJECT: MOTHER PLANET_, RESUME LIFE AS FREE-WILLED, INTELLIGENT LIFE-FORM.]

[RECENT PROGRAMS:

LIFE FORM INFORMATION: HUMANS/HOMO SAPIENS

LANGUAGE UPDATES: ENGLISH

UPDATED CLONE SYSTEM: BATLE MODE- AVAILABLE.

_Battle Mode available? No, that can't be right. Clones don't have the ability to go into Battle Mode. That was the whole purpose of creating the Dinomatons. It has to be a malfunction. There were obvious traces of malfunction before that listing, anyway. I couldn't understand what those little blips were in the programming, though there is one thing I understood. Project: Mother Planet is still in effect. Why have I been awakened prematurely? _I thought before noticing that I was the only one awake. None of the other clones had awakened from stone-sleep.

_But... why?_ I looked at their vital readings and made an unsettling discovery. None of them were alive. I was the last clone on the ship.

And if that wasn't enough, I looked around at the ship and discovered something that troubled me further.

The ship was dead. It was completely void of power, which would explain the cause of my premature awakening. But how could it run out of power? The ship was designed so that it could draw power from the Idolcomps to power itself in the event that all systems were terminated due to power loss. And the Idolcomps couldn't run out of power so long as we were within 175,000,000 kilometers of a G2V-class star. The star at the center of this star system met those requirements, so how...?

I ran to the main room, where the Idolcomps were stored, and saw something that truly terrified me. The Idolcomps were gone.

"Exliv to Majesty!" I shouted into my communication device, and recieved only static. "Exliv to Majesty!"

Still nothing but static.

I was alone. I had nothing. Nothing but my mission, that is. I had to find the Idolcomps and return them to the ship and continue Project: Mother Planet.

**Well, here's chapter 2. Just so you know, Naithis is NOT a member of the new caste of Dinaurians mentioned in the story summary. Those will be introduced later. But, tell me what you think of Naithis, and how you predict things will unfold from here. And, if you want to see Naithis in Battle Form, look at the picture for this fic. It's an original design!**


	3. Chapter 3

Fossil Fighters 1.1:

Revival of the Past

Chapter 3: Meanwhile... (Jason's POV)

** AN: In this story, Secret Island was never opened to the public. It remains an exclusive site for only those who know of its existence and whereabouts. The total list of the members allowed are: Dr. Diggins, Mr. Richmond, Rosie, Jeromey and the Dinaurians. **

The next day, I got up, put on my black t-shirt, black jeans, black fedora, black sneakers and black gloves (again, I like black), and threw on my red-and-black plaid shirt over the black tee.

I went to the shop and got some Dino Cakes for breakfast, not having enough money to go to a restaurant, and I don't want to rely on my dad for meal money. I see enough of him as it is.

I ate my Dino Cakes in the Park Area, until Jeromey found me.

"Hey Jason."

"Hey, Jeromey. What's up?"

"You want to go somewhere exclusive?"

"What do you mean?"

"There's a dig site that no one knows about except the VIPs. Only people who know about it, and where it is can go there. Even Captain Travers can't go there."

"Who all knows?"

"Rosie, me, Dr. Diggins, Mr. Richmond, and the Dinaurians. If you want, I can take you there. I'm sure I can convince Dr. Diggins to let me."

"Hey, sure. I'm in, definitely. Where is it?"

"Well, it's not technically on Vivosaur Island. It's actually on a different island nearby. It's the site of an ancient Dinaurian spacecraft that crashed during the age of the Dinosaurs."

"Whoa! That's awesome!"

"I know, right! Let's go! We'll have to get Dr. Diggins' permission, first, though."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

We ran to the Fossil Center quickly, but as we arrived, Dr. Diggins was on his way out, in even more of a hurry than we were.

"Dr. D? What's wrong?" Jeromey asked.

Dr. Diggins looked at me warily, like what he had to say couldn't be said in front of me.

"Oh." Jeromey said, when he caught this. "If it's about _you know where_, I actually already told him about it. I think he can keep a secret. He's cool, I was going to ask if I could take him there today."

"Oh, that's not a good idea. There's been a disturbance on... _you know where_. Mr. Richmond said he picked something up on the motion detectors. I'm on my way there now to investigate. I want you and Rosie to come with me. Duna and Raptin are meeting us there by teleportation."

"What about Jason?"

"I think he should just go to Greenhorn Plains, or something. Go digging, revive more vivosaurs, or better yet, you still haven't talked to Bea Ginner yet, have you? Go see her and do as she says. We'll be back later."

"But Dr. D, I really think we can trust him!" Jeromey protested. Dr. Diggins hesitated.

"Well, talk to Mr. Richmond first. If he says okay, then bring him along." Diggins sighed, defeated.

Jeromey dragged me all the way through the Guild Area, then into a large building, and up the right elevator. We got to Mr. Ricmond's office, and Rosie was there.

"Jeromey! Did you hear?" She asked, and Richmond cleared his throat.

"It's okay, Mr. Richmond, Jason already knows. That's what I'm here about. Dr. Diggins told me about the disturbance, and I was wondering if I could take Jason along?"

"Um... Why don't you ask Diggins?"

"I already did."

"And?"

"He said ask you."

"Oh, please, Grandpa?" Rosie asked, putting on her puppy dog eyes.

"Well, I guess it would be alright. But, as he has only the one vivosaur, and it's a rank one, I'd suggest you be very careful."

"Don't worry, I'm bringing my best vivosaurs." Jeromey said, and Rosie agreed.

"Well, still... be careful." With that, we rushed back out the door and went to the roof of the Richmond building. Dr. Diggins was starting up a small helicopter.

"I take it Richmond agreed?" Diggins shouted over the propellers.

"Yes!" We all said.

"Well, I suggest we get going, then. Did you all get your best vivosaurs?"

"I always carry my best." Rosie shouted.

"I'll get mine from the VMM at Secret Island!" Jeromey said.

"I've got my best, too!" I joked, and Diggins rolled his eyes.

"Well, we'd probably get going." He said as he climbed into the pilot's seat. The three of us climbed in the back and we went straight up, then flew off towards the water, pressumably towards Secret Island.

When we got there, ten minutes later, Jeromey automatically walked up to a VMM, only this one was different. It was orange instead of blue.

"You see," Dr. Diggins explained when I asked about it, "the VMMs at dig sites are slightly different than the ones in town. These have teleportaion powers, so they can send a Fighter straight back to the town."

"Oh. Cool."

"Yes. Well, Jeromey, as soon as you're ready..."

"I've got them." Jeromey shut down the VMM and went inside. We followed closely behind. Diggins gave me a pickaxe and a sonar once we got inside, and told me how to use them.

"Why don't you go ahead and just dig around while we investigate?" He suggested, and I agreed. I couldn't wait to see what other fossils I could find. I dug around a bit and found several fossils, all of them new, obviously. I also found a few regular rocks, and some jewel rocks. It was awesome how the sonar was able to distinguish between jewels and fossils.

I must have been digging for ten minutes before the ship shook violently. I thought it was taking off, but nothing blinked on, so I knew something was going on somewhere else. I put my sonar and pickaxe away in my bag and ran to the center of the ship. When I got there, I saw something I definitely never expected.

Rosie, Jeromey and Dr. Diggins had their vivosaurs out. Jeromey was using some kind of red and gold vivosaur I didn't recognize. And I've seen every one of my dad's vivosaurs, and he has them all. Behind the strange vivosaur, two smaller ones stood support. I recognized them both. One was a Compsognathus, and the other was a Guanlong.

Rosie was using a Siamotyrannus, a Maiasaura, and a Deinonychus. Dr. Diggins was using a Stegosaurus, an Allosaurus and a Sinosauropteryx. But that's not what caught my attention. There were three other vivosaurs around that didn't seem to have Fighters. Two of them were on Jeromey's side, facing the other one, who had nine robotic vivosaurs on his side that resembled a Therizinosaurus.

One of the strange vivosaurs on Jeromey's side looked strangely like my Velociraptor, though more... alien. The one on the other side, with the robots, looked like some kind of alien Compsognathus.

"Naithis! Stop!" I heard the third alien/vivosaur say in a female voice that sounded familiar.

"Traitors!" The one pressumably called Naithis shouted, and attacked.

**So here's chapter 3. Please review.**


	4. Chapter 4

Fossil Fighters 1.1:

Revival of the Past

Chapter 4: Battle Mode! (Duna's POV)

Raptin and I recieved word of the disturbance at the crashed starship directly from King Dynal, and he told us to go there in person to rendezvous with Jeromey, Rosie, and Dr. Diggins. We teleported there directly and waited outside the room formerly used to house the Idolcomps. They arrived almost an hour after we got there, and we headed inside. What we saw was something I hadn't expected. A clone was activating a Dinomaton. Obviously, I knew the Dinaurian the clones were modeled after personally. Naithis Kahmp had served on the same troop together with Raptin and myself in the King's Guard back on Mesozoia, our homeworld before Guhnash destroyed it.

In fact, Naithis and I had grown especially close during our time in the Guard, though Jeromey knows nothing of this. Naithis and I had become almost... I suppose the humans would call it "romantic" in our relationship, though it was not quite like that. Jeromey and I currently share a "romantic" relationship. I know not how to explain my relationship with Naithis, but it matters not, for Naithis is dead. He died during the Dinaurians' last battle against Guhnash. It was he who discovered Guhnash's three brains and informed us of them, and in doing so, he lost his life. He used a portable stone-sleep inducer, the same as Jeromey and Rosie had after Jeromey beat Guhnash, and, just as it had for them, it malfunctioned, and he was trapped in stone. Even with our advanced technology, we couldn't revive him.

But none of this matters, because this was not Naithis Kahmp. If his identification number was correct (all clones have their identification numbers tatooed above their right eyebrow), then this was Clone 44, codename: Exliv.

"Exliv!" I said, and the clone turned to look at me.

"Duna?" The clone said, and it still sent chills up my spine whenever a clone recognized me. It almost made them seem like... him. But they're not.

"Clone X-L-I-V, state your purpose for disturbing _The Rexplorer_." Raptin said. _The Rexplorer_ was the name of the ship.

"Lieutenant Raptin. My purpose is simply to carry out Project: Mother Planet and repopulate this world with Dinaurians through the process of meditation. Once I have located the Idolcomps and replaced them, then the Main Idolcomp can use the regression rays and send the _Homo Sapiens_ back to an earlier stage of evolution again, and our mission can continue. I have diverted all remaining power from the ship to activating the Dinomatons. Once their wake cycle has been completed, they shall begin searching everywhere within ten miles of _The Rexplorer_ to find the Idolcomps, which went missing during the ship's descent. Meanwhile, I shall be working to discover the cause of the system's failure so we can learn how to prevent it from happening again."

"Exliv, Project: Mother Planet has failed. All of the Seeds of Life went extinct millions of years ago. The _Homo Sapiens_ that reside on this planet are indigenous, and not our creations. Returning them to an earlier stage of evolution will not only be useless, as it will accomplish nothing, but is forbidden by order of His Majesty, King Dynal XVI." Duna explained.

"You lie." Naithis said, matter-of-factly. He didn't shout, he wasn't angry. It was as if he knew it to be true, and he wanted me to know.

"She does not, Clone X-L-I-V. She speaks the truth. Project: Mother Planet has failed. We, the Dinaurians, now inhabit this planet alongside the_ Homo Sapiens_. The King's flagship hovers just outside the atmosphere of this planet. Come, we will take you to the King, and he will inform you of what has transpired."

"No. I will not listen to traitors."

"Traitors?!" Raptin and I exclaimed. Finally, Naithis seemed to notice Jeromey, Rosie and Dr. Diggins.

"Yes, traitors. You are obviously sympathizers with the _Homo Sapiens_, and wish to prevent them from being regressed. You must _want_ our species to die out. Or is it that you would prefer the _other_ method of our revival, Commander Duna?"

Raptin glanced at me as I paled.

"How _dare_ you ask me that?" I heard the coldness in my voice, and Jeromey walked up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"What's he talking about?" He asked me, and I shook my head.

"Later." I told him, and he nodded, but Naithis answered for me anyway.

"Well, _Homo Sapien_, if you _must_ know, Duna, along with another female whose location is unknown, are the only two female Dinaurians left alive, as all Dinaurians other than His Majesty, King Dynal XVI, and Lieutenant Raptin, are clones of a male Dinaurian named Naithis Kahmp. Therefore, we are all males, with only two females left to bear heirs of our species, and only one whose location is known, and therefore, only one who _can_ bear heirs."

Jeromey paled as well, frustrated that I hadn't told him this before, but also angry at the monster who had done this to my species.

"But I do not know why I am speaking of this to a lower life form. Once I have found the Sub and Main Idolcomps, your entire species will be eradicated and evolution will begin againand again until the Dinaurians rise again. Then, we will have the knowledge and technology to destroy Guhnash."

"Wait!" Rosie shouted. "Guhnash is already gone!"

"What?!" Naithis... no, Exliv, was surprised. He obviously hadn't expected that. "That... can't... be."

"It's true! Jeromey fought Guhnash's three brains and defeated them with vivosaurs!"

"What are... vivosaurs? That program has not been uploaded."

"They are the revived forms of our ancient ancestors using our stone-sleep technology to revive them from their fossilized remains. The Seeds of Life successfully reproduced our primordial ancestors on this planet, but the prehistoric humans, then called neanderthals, killed them off for their meat to survive. The one who survived died of disease and being hunted by other dinosaurs, which is what the humans call our ancestors before they are revived."

"I do not understand. Why have I not recieved this file?"

"File?" Jeromey asked.

"The clones' minds work like computers. They recieve updated information through files. That is one of the Idolcomps' resposibilities. I guess the Idolcomps neglected to inform the older clones of the vivosaurs. Though, why he doesn't know that Project: Mother Planet has failed, I do not know. That program was sent to all clones, new and old. Exliv, do a total systems check. Are there any viruses or glitches on any programs?"

"Yes. I have already checked my programs. There is an unidentified glitch within a couple pograms that make some information impossible to decipher, though the rest of the programs are clear. And the file concerning Project: Mother Planet states that themission is still in effect, and that it is priority one. If you stand in my way, you must be eliminated." He warned. It was clear to me that we could not get through to him.

"Clone X-L-I-V, I, Lieutenant Raptin command you to stand down until these glitches can be investigated."

"I do not take orders from traitors." Naithis charged, and Raptin and I sprang into Battle Mode. Of course, the Dinomatons chose that moment to complete their wake cycle, and they attacked as well. The humans tossed their Dino Medals, and their vivosaurs sprang to life to fight off the Dinomatons.

Both Raptin and I were stunned when the clone assumed Naithis' Battle Form. Clones weren't supposed to be able to take on a Battle Mode. What was even worse was the fact that Naithis was an Earth-type, which gave him an advantage over a Wind-tpe like Raptin.

"Neck-Biter." Naithis said, and he charged forward.

"Naithis! Stop!" I shouted, accidentally forgetting that he was a clone.

"Traitors!" He shouted, and bit down on Raptin's neck. He lifted Raptin into the air, then slammed him down on the ground. Raptin groaned in pain.

"Elegant Bite." I said, then bit down on Exliv's tail. I dragged him away, but he held on tight to Raptin's neck, and dragged him along.

"Spite Claw!" Raptin shouted, and scratched at Naithis' face, but he wouldn't let go. It took a while, but Raptin fainted, and he reverted to his Dinaurian form, but Naithis still didn't let go. His fangs sank into Raptin's neck, and Iknew that if I didn't do something soon, Raptin would die.

Just then, however, Jeromey had his Ignosaurus slam into Naithis, and he let Raptin go in surprize. A V-Raptor sped up, grabbed Raptin, and carried him to safety, and I saw Jeromey's new friend, Jason, standing in the doorway of the room, talking to the Velociraptor. He saved Raptin.

"Inferno Breath!" Jeromey shouted, and Ignosaurus let loose a humongous torrent of flames at Naithis. Seeing the flames, Exliv jumped away and reverted to his Dinaurian form, not wanting to take a chance battling a powerful Fire-type like that.

_It is a good thing he does not know that Ignosaurus has no type, and therefore, its flames will not affect Earth-types the way most Fire-types fire will._

"Well, you have won this round, but I _will_ see Project: Mother Planet through to its finish, traitors and _humans_." He spat the word 'humans' out as if it was worse to be a human than to be a traitor.

I changed back and rushed to Raptin's side. The humans recalled their vivosaurs and ran over to see Raptin as well.

"Raptin, will you survive?" I asked worriedly.

"I... don't... know." He said, gasping with every word. Dr. Diggins checked him.

"He's bleeding into his throat. It's a good thing I brought this." He said, and brought out a portable stone-sleep inducer. He activated it and Raptin was preserved in stone.

"Let's get him back to the mother ship. Our technology will heal him." I said, and we all worked together to carry him outside, and I activated my teleporter.

**Will Raptin survive? Tell me your answer in a review!**


	5. Chapter 5

Fossil Fighters 1.1:

Revival of the Past

Chapter 5: Five Weeks Later (Jeromey's POV)

It has been five weeks since the battle at Secret Island. Since then, Jason has revived the other three vivosaurs from Greenhorn Plains: Spinax, Goyle and Shanshan, and managed to collect all of their body fossils and integrate them. Along with the two levels they all gained from that (not because he cleaned them perfectly, but because the heads were above 75 points, and so were the bodies. Add it all up and you've got Rank Threes all the way around), because of battles, his V-Raptor is now a Rank 6, and the other three are Rank 4. He took a Level-up test three times now, and as a result, he's now a Level 4 Fighter. He's also revived a bunch of vivosaurs from Knotwood Forest, Rivet Ravine and Bottomsup Bay, plus the ones he got from Secret Island. He's also got a few equipment upgrades, as well. He got the Monitor Upgrade 1, the Fossil Filter 1, the Fossil Chip 1&2, and the 24-slot case.

We were all pretty busy, too. That guy Naithis left Duna pretty shaken up. She still hasn't told me much of anything about him. In fact,the only things I _do_ know about him is what I learned on Secret Island, and what she's told Dr. Diggins in front of me, which was only the basics. Apparently, he clones all have NaithisKahmp's memories up until the day they were each respectively cloned from his DNA, and from there, they became separate beings, life forms all their own minus the physical appearance they all share, as well as the first 17 years of their life, which is how old Naithis Kahmp was when he died. Apparently, the Dinaurians were able to clone Naithis from the small traces of DNA left in the stone where he was trapped.

"Naithis is... was... a genius. If he were to have his... "IQ?" tested by your human machines, it would most likely register him at around 200. He was behind much of our more modern technology. He created the Portable Stone-sleep Inducers. Before then, Stone-sleep Inducers were the size of the ones on our ships or larger. He perfected them so they could be carried around by an individual. He also was a brilliant stategist, especially when it came to a one-on-one combat. He often even used his teleportation pendant to give himself more mobility in fights. To this day, no one has been able to do what he did with such ease and precision." Duna said when I finally got her to talk about him with me. We were alone in my room.

"It sounds like you admired him greatly."

"I did." She said, and there was a hint of some lost emotion, but she caught herself. "I mean, everyone did. He was quite famous on Mesozoia. Everyone knew and loved him. His technological innovations were extraordinary."

"Did you have feelings for him?"

"Yes." The bluntness of her answer stunned me. "Everyone had feelings for him, as I said. Did I have_ romantic_ feelings for him? I do not know how to describe it. There was a deeper connection between he and I that I cannot describe using human words. The closest I can come to describing it would be... I do not know, perhaps... something akin to a cross between spouse and sibling. We were neither married, nor were we siblings, though our relationship held a connection similar to a cross between a connection between soul mates and a connection between siblings. I suppose you would call this a... "guardian" relationship? But that is not quite it."

"It's so confusing." I said as I sat down.

"Yes. And it is frustrating that I can not convey to you his feelings for me in yur tongue."

"Very. Can I ask you a personal question?"

"You can, of course. Whether it would be wise to ask the question that is on your mind or not remains tobe seen, and we shall only know if and when you do, in fact, ask the question. You must also take into account that even if you do ask the question, I am not obliged to actually give you an answer if I do not think it would be wise, or if I simply do not want to. I may very well choose to not answer."

"True. Well, if I ask you, will you answer?"

"As I said, I may choose whether or not to. It simply depends on the question."

"Please?"

"Very well. Yes, I will answer your question."

"Truthfully?"

"Yes."

"Thank you. Did you sleep with him?"

"That depends. By "did I sleep with him?" are you asking if I went to sleep in the same bed as him, or if I engaged in sexual intercourse?"

"Um... yes? Both, I suppose."

"Yes and no."

"So you slept with him, but you didn't hav sex with him?"

"No. I meant it the other way around. Yes, I engaged in coitus with him, but I never fell asleep beside him. I always put my clothes back on and returned to my own home, or he'd return to his home if we were at mine. No, we never saw a future together in a romantic fashion. If anyone were to have been my spouse in the future, everyone thought it would be Raptin."

"Wait, you had feelings for Raptin?"

"No, but he would have been the logical choice for my future spouse. I probably would have born his heir, not Naithis'."

"Somehow, I think you're hiding something from me. You actually had feelings for someone. Who?"

"You."

"No, I mean a Dianurian."

"If you must know, then I suppose I cannot hide it."

"Don't tell me it's King Dynal!"

"No! I saw King Dynal as more of a father figure. He pretty much raised me after my own father left. He went on an exploration mission to a nearby star system, and his crew and ship never returned. But King Dynal was more of a father to me anyway."

"Then who?"

"Naithis. I know I have said I do not know how to describe it, but that was a lie. I chose to conceal this infomation so you would not feel threatened or jealous, but I do know that you have already figured it out, and so the best thing for me to do would be to admit it. Yes, I was attracted to Naithis, both physically and emotionally. I appologize for lying."

"It's alright. I understand. So what happened? You said you _were_ attracted to him."

"Guhnash destroyed our planet. It affected all of the survivors. Raptin started taking absolutely everythin personally. If Nathis accidentally tripped him, Raptin would go off on him. Nathis went into research mode. If there was something he didn't know, he made it his first priority to find out, which included a way to kill Guhnash. King Dynal became obsessed with building an army. Dinomatons and Clones galore were produced, and trained to the highest levels possible in preparation for war against Guhnash. I withdrew emotionally. I buried my emotions deep within myself, so I wouldn't feel anything. Until, that is, I met a certain young Fighter who beat me in combat then rescued me in a volcano." Duna smiled, and I couldn't help but return it.

"So. Back at Secret island, the clone said something about another female Dinaurian?"

"Yes. Tirryx Gwonlan. She was one of the five survivors, but she disappeared soon after Mesozoia was destroyed. She's been missing so long that she's considered dead, a fatality of Guhnash's attack."

"Has her body been found?"

"No. But everyone assumes she's dead. The Portable Stone-sleep Inducer she took with her was an older model, the kind that hadn't yet been perfected. It can only recharge on a Charge Dock, and only Naithis actually knew how to build them. So even if she found someone to revive her, she'd only be able to use it so many times."

"But there's no way to know for sure."

"Correct. She may very well still be alive, but such a thing is highly unlikely."

"Well, let's set this Tirryx girl aside. Are cones able to assume a Battle Form? Because I've never seen one do that before, yet that "Exliv" character could."

"No. Clones are not supposed to be able to assume a Battle Form. It's the only fault in the cloning system. Naithis was working on a way to fix that when he..."

"Do you know how he could? Assume a Battle Form, I mean."

"No. I do not know."

I nodded. "Well, we'd probably go out. Dr. Diggins wants us to continue searching for that clone."

"King Dynal agrees. We must find him before he gets someone hurt."

I nodded again, and we hurried out. Everyonewas put into groups of two searching for Naithis 44. I was paired with Duna because of my Guanlong and Ignosaurus. Even though Ignosaurus wasn't actually a Fire-type, it still breathed flames, and that made Naithis 44 wary of it. Rosie worked with Raptin because she had three powerful Fire-types herself. Dr. Diggins worked together with King Dynal. Dynal used scanners from the ship to try and locate him from there while Dr. Diggins did the same with the computers at the Fossil Center.

The Digadigs were made aware of the situation, and were asked to notify us if they find anything.

Today, Duna and I were assigned to keep a look out in Knotwood Forest, where Jason just happened to be digging.

"Hey Jeromey, Duna." He said as he walked up to us.

"Hey, Jason."

"Hello, Jason." Duna greeted him as well.

"You guys looking for that clone guy?"

"Indeed." Duna confirmed.

"Well, don't tell Dr. D this, but I've been looking for him, too. So far, I haven't seen head nor tail of him, though it's kind of hard to tell if I'm just looking at the tail, because the clones all look the same except for that tatoo on their foreheads that tells you their number."

"Yes. Most difficult."

"Well, I'll let you guys know if I see anything."

"I would appreciate that."

"So what are you doing now, Jason?" I asked.

"Fixing to take these fossils back to the Fossil Center and clean them."

"Cool."

"Well, I was, but now I want to see this." I turned to look at what Jason was staring at over my shoulder and saw Exliv walking up to us, two Dinomatons behind him. Only thing is, these ones were gold, not silver.

"Duna. _Homo Sapiens._ Stand away. I have reason to believe one of the Idolcomps is located here, and if you do not stand out of my way, I will be forced to annihilate you."

"Exliv, please don't force us to fight you."

"I am not forcing you to do anything. I am offering you a choice. Stand out of my way and let me proceed, or die. I will not allow anyone to stand in the way of the Dinaurian Objective. Certainly not a failed experiment and a traitor."

"I am no traitor, Exliv. There is something wrong with your programming. Something is confusing the updates in your Cerebrocomp. If you will accompany me to the Mother Ship, we can have a Clone Engineer examine you and fix the glitch."

"I am not listening to the word of a traitor. Now, step aside."

"I can't do that. We all know what will happen when you don't get the answer you want from the Digadigs."

"Then you tell me where the Idolcomps are. I know someone knows."

"You will not accept my answer as the truth. You will claim that I lie and go after the Digadigs anyway."

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. Tell me the truth, then, and we shall see."

"Fine. The Idolcomps, sub and main, are on the Mother Ship. They are operational, and it is they who discovered the failure of Project: Mother Planet."

"It appears you are correct."

"I am?"

"I do believe that you are lying."

"Have you attempted to contact King Dynal and confirm the validity of my story, or are you merely going based off of your opinions?"

"I have contacted His Majesty, and he confirmed my beliefs."

"What?!" Jason, Duna and I all exclaimed.

"Indeed. You see?" Exliv held out his wrist so we could hear King Dynal speak from his communicator.

"Clone X-L-I-V, what have you to report?"

"I merely wish to confirm the truth once more. Is it true that the Idolcomps have been recovered, and are currently operational?"

"No. This is false on both accounts. We are not in possession of any of the Idolcomps."

"Then Project: Mother Planet is still in progress?"

"That is correct."

"And the status of the Seeds of Life?"

"Alive, though their evolution has taken a different path than desired, and as a result, they have become _Homo Sapiens_, rather than _Homus Reptillus_, a.k.a. Dinaurians, which is the desired result."

"Thank you, my King." Exliv switched the communicator off. "You see? I shall not fall for your simple-minded trickery."

"But that's impossible!" Duna exclaimed. "I just talked to King Dynal this morning in the main computer room on the Mother Ship, and the Idolcomps were present and accounted for!"

"This is very curious. It appears that, even after undeniable proof has been presented that contradicts your story, you still stick to the lies you have told me, suggesting that you are either desperate to trick me, or that you actually believe the information you have given me to be true. If the former is true, then I shall have to eliminate you." Exliv went into Battle Mode and attacked, but stopped only inches away from Duna, who had not responded at all, stil trapped in a state of confusion. Exliv phased back into his regular form, then spoke again. "However, your reaction to my attack being one of utter confusion suggests that the latter is true, and that you genuinely believe your story. Therefore, I have decided to not label you as a traitor, and instead label you as loyalties undecided. However, if you stand in my way again, I shall label you once more as a traitor, and will show you no mercy on account of your past friendship with my Origin."

Exliv walked past us without hesitation, leaving Duna dumbfounded. I was just as confused, but Jason wasn't completely up to date, and so his confusion was minor compared to mine and Duna's (wow, Duna's formal speech is starting to rub off on me.)

Duna contacted King Dynal.

"Duna? Do you have something to report?"

"Your Majesty, did you recently receive a communication from Clone X-L-I-V?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"Because he's here at Knotwood Forest, and he just contacted you in front of us, and you told him that Project: Mother Planet is still in progress, and that the Idolcomps have yet to be recovered."

"I haven't spoken to XLIV at all. Not since Project: MotherPlanet was started, back when we first found this planet."

"Well, he's going to the Digadig village to find the Idolcomps."

"What?! But we stored SI-4 there!"

"What?! I thought the Sub-Idolcomps were still on the Mother Ship!"

"They are, of course, but the ones here on the ship are mere duplicates! We made them for basic programming modifications such as transfering new data to the clones and Dinomatons, as well as to store the Science Department's research! Plus, as you are aware, we had a rogue clone a while back who didn't trust the humans, and he tried to use the regression rays to wipe them out. We hid the Sub-Idolcomps so that something like that couldn't happen again!"

"And Sub-Idolcomp number 4 is inside the Digadigamid?" I asked.

"Yes! You must get to it before XLIV! We have no idea of his motives. I'm sending a troop down there as reinforcements, but you cannot wait for them. I'll also contact Dr. Diggins and apprise him of the situation."

"Yes, my king." Duna said, and the communicator bleeped off.

"Let's go!" I shouted, and the three of us took off towards Digadig Village.

"Hmm. I assume you have the Sub-Idolcomps in that monstrosity of a temple, do you? Exliv asked the Chieftain.

"You... You are Lizard-Man from sky, digadig. You want your magic talisman back, digadig?"

"Magic... talisman? No, I want the Sub-Idolcomps."

"The Fossil God has shown me a vision of a visitor who would come and ask for the magic talisman, but he would be misguided by a power higher than himself, digadig. The Fossil God told me not to relinquish the talisman to the visitor, digadig."

"Then you will not give me the Sub-Idolcomps?"

"Why do you keep saying plural tense, digadig? We have only one talisman in the Digadigamid, digadig."

"What?! You only have one of the Sub-Idolcomps?! Hmm, then my mission has just become more difficult. Nonetheless, the Sub-Idolcomp is the property of the Dinaurians. You must, by even your human laws, relinquish it."

"The Lizard-Men from the Sky gave the talisman to the Digadig Tribe for protection, digadig. We will not abuse that trust, digadig. The king of Lizard-Men himself must ask for the talisman, digadig."

"King Dynal has more important things to do than come to some small village in the middle of nowhere just to reclaim his property!"

"Nonetheless, these are the requirements, digadig. Until the King comes down and speaks to me in person, the talisman will remain where it is, digadig."

"Fine." Exliv turned on his communicator. "My king."

"Yes, X-L-I-V?"

"I have found the location of one of the Sub-Idolcomps. Apparently, the humans have separated them so we cannot take them all at once. But before I can get to the one I've found, the human guardian is requesting you come in person to reclaim it."

"Then move the pesky humans out of the way!"

"My king, I do not wish to resort to violence. I think it would be much simpler if you would teleport here and reclaim the Sub-Idolcomp."

"Very well. I shall be there momentarily."

We got to Digadig Village just in time to see someone teleport into the village. It was King Dynal. But there was something different. He didn't walk with the same confidence as usual. If anything, he kind of slouched as he walked, like he was nervous.

Duna noticed it, too, and came to the same conclusion I had.

That was not King Dynal.

"King Dynal." Duna whispered into the communication device.

"Yes, Duna?"

"We've caught up to Exliv, but there's something you should know."

"What is it?"

"I don't think Exliv is acting alone."

"What do you mean?"

"Where are you?"

"On the Mother Ship."

"Because I'm looking at you right now, only you're in Digadig Village!"

"But that's impossible!"

"No it's not. Not if somehow, someone cloned you, but I doubt that. I think there's a much simpler explanation. Someone is using a disguise generator, and impersonating you. I think Exliv is only acting the way he is because of this imposter."

"Hmm. That's very crafty. Someone who is able to reprogram the clones. Only Naithis Kahmp was able to do that. The original Naithis Kahmp."

"I don't think that's what's happened. I think someone simply overlaid the original programming, with a few added details, on top of the updates. It caused a glitch. Naithis was too smart to leave glitches."

"Maybe that's what he wants us to think. Maybe he intentionally left glitches so we'd think that it was someone not quite as intelligent as him."

"King Dynal, with all due respect, Naithis is dead. This isn't him, could it be the rogue clone?"

"It's possible. I'll check the prison and see if he's still there."

"Yes, my king. What should we do in the meantime?"

"Do not engage the imposter. Let them have the Sub-Idolcomp. There are still three others, and they'll need all four if they are to be of any use. Collect the other three Sub-Idolcomps and bring them to me on board the Mother Ship. We do not know who this imposter is, or what his skills are. It may be too dangerous to engage. It's too risky. Abort this objective and collect the others at Mt. Lavaflow, Bottomsup Bay and Rivet Ravine."

"Yes, King Dynal." Duna turned off the communicator. "Come on. Let's go." She said, and Jason and I followed her to the VMM, and used the teleporter to go back to Vivosaur Town.

**Well, here's chapter 5. Hope you enjoyed!**


	6. Chapter 6

Fossil Fighters 1.1:

Revival of the Past

Chapter 6: Tacky Idol #1 (Jason's POV)

We headed back to Vivosaur Town and found Dr. Diggins had already been told what happened.

"Well, if King Dynal thinks it would be best to retrieve the Idolcomps, then we'll retrieve the Idolcomps. Rivet Ravine is closest, you should probably head there and retrieve the Idolcomp from McJunker. He's on duty in the mines again, as usual, and he's also been tasked with protecting the first Idolcomp. Tell him 'Tyrannosaurus' terrible teeth tear trembling Triceratops' tails.' It's the password I came up with that tells McJunker to give back the first Idolcomp."

"Tyrannosaurus' terrible teeth tear trembling Triceratops' tails?" Jeromey asked.

"Yes. That's it, exactly. Or maybe that was the one for Captain Woolbeard? Anyway, just try that one. You must recover the Idolcomp. Jason, Rosie..." Dr. Diggins said, looking at me and Rosie, who had joined us at the Fossil Center once she heard what happened at Knotwood Forest. "You two go to Rivet Ravine and get that one. Jeromey, Duna, I want you two to go to Bottomsup Bay and try to get the second Idolcomp from Woolbeard's ghost. Try the same password, it's bound to work on either McJunker or Woolbeard. And we really only _need_ to get one of the Idolcomps back, so Naithis-"

"Exliv." Duna corrected. "It's not Naithis Kahmp. This is Clone XLIV, or Exliv, as I call him. Naithis Kahmp is dead."

"Right, sorry. As I was saying, we only need to get one of the Idolcomps back before him, so he doesn't get his scaly little claws on it. I'd hate to think of what he'll do if he gets all four of the Idolcomps."

"Well, technically, he'd only have the Sub-Idolcomps, but he'd still need the Main Idolcomp." Duna said. "And we already know what he'll do. He'll use regression rays to revert the human race to an earlier stage of evolution, attempting to return the Seeds of Life to the desired path of evolution, thereby reviving the Dinaurians on this planet. But he will fail, even if he gets all five Idolcomps. The Seeds of Life are gone, extinct, and he will only succeed in ruining a sligtly less-advanced, but nonetheless indigenous civilization."

"Anyway, you have your missions, let's hope one of you will succeed. The Dinaurians have supplied us with communicators so we can stay in contact with each other, even while you're at the sites gathering the Idolcomps."

With that, Jeromey and Duna headed off for Bottomsup Bay together. I started to walk away towards the docks to get to Rivet Ravine, but then I noticed Rosie was standing still.

"Rosie."

"Yeah?" She asked, suddenly broken from her trance. I dragged her outside so we could talk.

"It bothers you that Jeromey and Duna keep getting paired together, doesn't it?"

"A little. But it doesn't matter. Let's just get this Idol thingy before the clone."

I nodded, and we departed for Rivet Ravine.

It took two hours to get to the mines. One hour to Rivet Ravine, another one to walk all the way to the mines.

"Hello, McJunker!" I said as we approached.

"Hello, there, Jason, Miss Richmond. What can I do ya for?" He asked. He and I had become good friends over the past couple weeks, since I became a Level 3 Fighter, and gained access to Rivet Ravine. "Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, Jason, when're ya goin' ta take your Level-Up Test? I'm the new Level 4 Master, ya know!"

"I know. I just haven't gotten around to it. I've been so busy reviving lots of vivosaurs from here, Knotwood Forest and Greenhorn Plains. I haven't even done anything in Bottomsup Bay, yet. I'm kind of afraid of deep-sea diving, and that's the only way to get to the fossils."

"Oh, well, I understand that! Well, not that I'm tryin' ta be a sourball, but I'm very busy today, so can I just ask what ya want?"

"Oh! Right. We need to get the Idolcomp from you."

"The what?"

"That really tacky idol that Dr. Diggins gave you to watch." Rosie explained.

"Oh! That thing! Well, why didn't ya just say so? I buried it in Tunnel #1 o'er there."

"Tunnel #1?"

"Yessiree. It's in Tunnel #1."

"Well, what if something happened? What if someone dug it up?"

"Aww, no one dug it up. Only a special kind of sonar can detect them Tacky Idols. Won't show up on any regular old sonar. Matter of fact, that King Dynal invented a type of Sonar that can only detect this specific Idol. Made four of them, I'm told, and each of them can only detect one of the Idols. Gave each of them to the ones protecting them. I've got the one that detects this Idol, but I can't just give it to you. You need to know the password."

"Is it 'Tyrannosaurus' terrible teeth tear trembling Tirceratops' tails'?"

"Aye, that it is. Well, here you go." McJunker gave us a golden Sonar device, and pointed us in the direction of the first Idol.

We went down the tunnel and ended at a dead end.

"Well, might as well start looking."

"Well, I think I can take it from here." We turned to see that Exliv guy walking up to us.

"Take what from where?" I asked, playing dumb.

"Do not feign ignorance with me. I know you know about the Idolcomp located here. I watched you take the Sub-Idolcomp Detection Device from the miner. Give it to me, and I will not kill you."

"But if we give it to you, you'll use the Idols to turn us all into rats!" Rosie screamed.

"What?" I asked.

"Long story."

"While that is, indeed, my goal, to revert humans to an earlier state of evolution so that the proper path may be selected by influencing the environmental conditions that lead to the creation of the Dinaurians, I know not what form you shall take. If, indeed, you do revert to a state of evolution resembling prehistoric rodents, then I suppose that is where the evolutionary deviation occured, and that is the error that must be corrected. Your race is a mistake. A flawed, inferior race that should be honored to have been included in the ultimate goal of the Dinaurian Race, however brief a time."

"I'm sorry about your race, Mr. Kahmp, Exliv, whatever your name is, but you have to understand! We aren't a part of your experiment! The Seeds of Life died out! I think our ancestors began hunting the Seeds for food and clothing, and we killed all of your Seeds! If that's what happened, then I'm sorry! They didn't know what they were doing, that they were causing a future civilization to go extinct! But can you really hold us accountable for the mistakes of our ancestors?" Rosie explained

"Your logic is sound, even if it is based on false pretenses. The Seeds of Life were too powerful to be wiped out by the inferior forms of such a lowly people."

"Actually, the Neanderthals, our ancestors, were physically stronger than us, even if we're smarter, and it's been proven that they used to hunt the prehistoric creatures such as Mammoths and Saber-toothed Tigers."

"Hmm. I was not aware of this fact, but it makes no difference. I myself re-engineered the Seeds of Life, what your people call "vivosaurs". They were, in every way, perfect, influenced only by the faulty environmental conditions of this planet that lead to their evolution into you. Now, give me the Detection Device, and no more stalling."

"Wait!" Rosie shouted again, but he wasn't in the mood to talk anymore. He morphed into Battle Form and attacked.

Rosie and I tossed our Dino Medals and out popped our vivosaurs. I had my V-Raptor, as well as my new Rank 5 M-Raptor and Rank 5 Venator.

"Rule 8 of combat: Never rely completely on your allies." Exliv said. "Sandstorm!" He shouted, and let loose a wall of sand from his mouth. I'd seen Jeromey's Compso use an attack similar to that. I think Jeromey called it "Gravel Breath" or something like that.

The wall of sand slammed into my Vivosaurs. M-Raptor was knocked back into its Dino Medal immediately, but V-Raptor and Venator stood strong.

"Veloci-Claw!" I shouted. V-Raptor ran over to Exliv and tried to claw him, but he side-stepped and V-Raptor's claws got stuck in the ground.

"Neck-Biter." Exliv said, and bit down on Venator's neck, knocking him back to his medal, then turned his sights on Rosie's vivosaurs.

He looked behind him, and two silver Dinomatons stomped around the corner and joined him.

I'd heard about Team Skills before, and that certain requirements have to be met. I'd heard that you can learn about Team Skills from a book on Woolbeard's Ship, but I haven't found the book. Apparently, Exliv had. With two Dinomatons in tow, he could use a Team Skill, and he did.

"Team Skill: Gamma Ray 44!" Exliv shouted. He roared, and wave after wave of energy surged forth and all but destroyed Rosie's vivosaurs, knocking them all out at once. We collected our medals just in time for V-Raptor to get unstuck.

"Toxic Combo!" I shouted, and V-Raptor caught Exliv by surprize. He clawed, then kicked him twice, landing beside me. Exliv stumbled backward, the poison was successful.

"Hmm. Rule 7 of combat: Never assume your enemy is weak because he does not look strong." Exliv said, though I got the feeling he was talking to himself.

"XLIV Kick." He said, then jumped up and kicked V-Raptor square in the chest. V-Raptor sailed back to my hand as a Medal. We lost.

"Wait, Mr. Exliv! I need to tell you something else!"

"Very well, I shall grant you this, for you actually managed to land a blow on me. Speak quickly, boy."

"Back at Knotwood Forest, when you were talking to the Digadig Chieftain, you called for King Dynal."

"Yes?"

"The one who came was NOT King Dynal. He was slouching, and King Dynal doesn't slouch, I've met him. He walks confidently."

"So? His Majesty might have simply had a sore back and wanted to relieve pressure from it."

"Okay, but then Duna contacted King Dynal while you were still in the village, and he answered, but not the one in the village. A different King Dynal answered the comm, not the sloucher. That means that the one you've been talking to is an imposter!"

"That is certainly one possible explanation, though it is also possible that you are lying to me so I will abandon the Dinaurian Objective and try to assimilate into your culture. Another possibility is that you are telling the truth, but it is your King Dynal who is the imposter, and you are being misled. The possibilities are intriguing, however. I shall look into it. You have left me with much to think about."

"If I give you the Idol Sonar, will you believe me?"

"What?!" Rosie screeched, but I ignored her.

"Are you attempting to bribe me?"

"No. It's just a sign of good faith. To show you that I'm not just trying to save my skin. Just, I'll give it to you if you let us leave without anymore violence, and you'll fully examine every possible explanation, and keep an eye on your King Dynal. Something tells me that if you really pay attention to him, you'll see that I'm right."

"Hmm... Very well. I agree to your request. Give me the Idolcomp Detection Device and leave, and I will, as you say, 'keep an eye out'."

I nodded, then handed him the Idol Sonar, and he was actually surprized that I wasn't lying. Rosie stared at me in shock, but then followed me out of the tunnel.

"You better know what you're doing." She growled.

"I hope so, too."

**Well, the next chapter will be the last of the "Exliv Arc", as this portion of the story has been referred to by some of my readers in PMs. That means that after the next chapter, Exliv won't be the main "bad guy" anymore. It's been short but sweet, but don't worry, the story is far from over!**


	7. Chapter 7

Fossil Fighters 1.1:

Revival of the Past

Chapter 7: Naithis Kahmp (Duna's POV)

Jeromey and I failed in our mission. That foolish ghost, Woolbeard, just gave the Sub-Idolcomp to Nai-, no, Exliv. He gave the Sub-Idolcomp to Exliv an hour before we got there. He didn't ask for the password, he just assumed that if a Dinaurian asked for it, then he would be required to hand it over with no struggle. We were too late. Then, to find that Jason and Rosie had not only failed, but willingly _gave_ Exliv their Idolcomp... It was very disheartening.

But, we were all surprized when Jason explained what had happened. Exliv actually thought he was following the command of King Dynal. I was beginning to think that Exliv wasn't a rogue after all. Maybe he was just confused. He woke up after millions of years in stone sleep to find his ship crashed, his friends dead, and his primary objective missing. Anyone could be thrown off by that. I found myself pitying him, wishing I could help him in a way that wouldn't lead to the annihilation of the Human Race.

I stood no at a window on the Mother Ship, just looking down at Earth. A tour was coming through. Ever since our assimilation into Earth life, King Dynal decided maybe tours of the ship would help humans grow used to our presence. He never stopped them once we had become fully assimilated.

I didn't notice the tour group, though. I was reflecting on many things. My time with Naithis. The original Naithis. Before he...

I had been deeply in love with him, as the humans would say. I was betrothed to Raptin, it was an arranged unity. The humans call it marriage, we call it _Jünaukk_. They are not quite the same, but the goal of unity between two clans, or families is very much the same. I was fated to be joined with Raptin to carry on our family lines, even though I loved Naithis.

Raptin's family had been very powerful and influencial. They were wealthy, and had much political influence. Raptin sought after me because I was beautiful in his eyes. It was a logical pairing. I knew my fate, and had accepted it. But it all changed so suddenly. Guhnash attacked Mesozoia, destroying everything we knew and held dear. Suddenly, neither Raptin nor I found the idea of _Jünaukk_ appealing, so the arrangements were cancelled. Naithis retreated into his lab, only ever leaving for a meal here and there, to stay alive. He learned everything we Dinaurians knew about everything.

We used intercourse as a way to vent our frustrations with our situation, and our grief at the deaths of everyone we knew, and everyone we didn't know. It was just a vent. We no longer had feelings for each other. We closed ourselves off from our emotions, became afraid of them. Raptin and I trained relentlessly, became stronger and stronger, and quickly rose through the ranks of the Dinaurian Armada. Our people, what few were left, a mere hundred thousand Dinaurians, died off quickly. Someone, I do not recall who, invented Stone-Sleep, but it was imperfect. Naithis perfected it, but not before half of us were wiped out, leaving only fifty thousand Dinaurians left. Then, King Rexxus IX, Prince Dynal XVI's father, passed away, having taken ill, leaving Prince Dynal XVI to be the new king.

A meteor storm hit us while we were traveling through space, destroying three of the six ships remaining, and our numbers became 25,000. Naithis and I spent much time together venting our grief after that. Naithis developed defenses for the ships. Shields, weaponry. We were protected from the elements of space. Our numbers rose again, as we started reproducing. Unfortunately, our numbers rose too quickly, and many of the infants had to be released. That order was the hardest order King Dynal XVI ever had to make. Many parents of the released infants killed themselves out of grief, halving our population again. Naithis and I had to vent even more after this.

King Dynal XVI put Project: Mother Planet into effect as a means of our resurrection after a disease wiped out everyone but those who were immune and those who managed to escape. That left one hundred Dinaurians in total. Again, Naithis and I grieved.

We came across Guhnash our third year traveling. He was asleep, luckily, so Naithis took 95 Dinaurians to him to try and study him, kill him if possible. Killing him proved to be a mistake. We lost 50 Dinaurians when Guhnash woke up and attacked, and the other 46, Naithis included, when the Stone Sleep device they'd taken with them malfunctioned, rendering them unable to be revived.

Tirrys, one of the four remaining Dinaurians, sifted through Naithis' research for a way to revive those trapped in stone-sleep, and failing. Instead, she found Naithis' formula for cloning, and we tried to clone each of the Dinaurians in stone-sleep, but failed with all but Naithis. Raptin, King Dynal and I tried as well, but we failed as well. Tirryx was not willing to try after seeing the failures, instead focusing on cloning Naithis repeatedly.

One day, Tirryx disappeared with the third ship, which was in very bad condition after the first meteor storm, and all of the Dinaurians in stone-sleep. We never saw her, or the other bodies again.

Then, by some miracle, we found Earth. It was perfect. Its ecosystem globally was remarkably similar to Mesozoia. It was perfect for Project: Mother Planet. We planted the Seeds of Life Naithis had designed, large eggs containing simulated DNA of our earliest known ancestors, imbued with our own DNA, on Earth's surface, and used the Idolcomp System Naithis had created to regulate it while we went into Stone Sleep.

"Commander Duna!" I heard a clone call, waking me from my trance.

"Yes, Elexai?" Clone 61.

"Clone X-L-I-V has been captured!" I followed Elexai to our containment ward, where Exliv was locked in a lazercell.

"Commander Duna, what have I done? My jailor accuses me of treason, but I do not understand the charges." Exliv said. I looked in his eye and saw honesty. This was not the Exliv who was gathering Idolcomps. I looked up at his tatoo, and sure enough, the number 44 was present above his left eye.

"His Internal Identification Tag matches the registered code?" I asked the jailer.

"Affirmative."

"This is not the one we're after."

"But Commander! There is only one clone with each ID number, and this is XLIV!"

"True. And if the one we're after is an imposter, I couldn't think of a worse target. It doesn't make any sense, but whoever we're after, it is _not_ Clone X-L-I-V."

Dr. Diggins, Mr. Richmond, King Dynal, Raptin and everyone else was stunned when I revealed that we were not after Clone X-L-I-V after all, but an imposter.

"But who is it, then?!" Dr. Diggins asked.

"I do not know. But Exliv has been captured, and he is not the same Exliv who has been gathering the Sub-Idolcomps. I saw him myself."

"This is troublesome. Why would someone choose to impersonate a clone? Myself, Raptin, you, I could understand any of those disguises, as well as numerous humans, these would all be much more efficient disguises, but a _clone_? He might as well have inmpersonated a Dinomaton!" King Dynal exclaimed.

"I agree, King Dynal, but it is the truth. Though, to be honest, its foolishness and simplicity may be what makes it genius. There are hundreds of clones. It would be easy to blend in with a disguise such as that."

"True enough. All he'd need the disguise for anyhow is to gather the Idolcomps. But then, if it's a Dinaurian, he wouldn't need to disguise himself as another Dinaurian, he could just go as himself. And very few humans know about the Idolcomps. That means that, if it is, indeed, a disguise, then the person who is commiting such treachery is in this room right now, and I doubt that it is any of us. All of us have been seen at the same time as Exliv one time or another, correct?"

"Correct. Other than myself, that is." Mr. Richmond said. "And I wouldn't need the disguise, either. I have your own permission, King Dynal, to collect the Idol computers as I see fit for studying."

"That is true. Then Exliv is, indeed, a Dinaurian. But something else troubles me. How did Exliv know where to find the Idolcomps?" Raptin asked.

"Wait." Jason said. "There is... _one_ more person who knows about the Idolcomps, remember?"

"Who is that?" King Dynal asked.

"My... my..."

"Whos is it?!" Dr. Diggins screeched.

"My father!" Jason shouted back.

"Oh my god. Mr. Nack would tell anyone anything if they offered him something rare!" Rosie said.

"But wait, he wouldn't do that! He wouldn't betray you like that!" Jason defended. "He may be... odd, but he's no traitor."

"I agree. Mr. Nack is a lot of things, but he's not a traitor." Jeromey backed him up, and Rosie agreed.

"That may be true," began, "But he may not,in fact, have even known what he was doing. He doesn't know what the Idols are, or even that they're important. As far as he knows, they're just very valuable to collectors. He may simply see it as a business proposition."

"Th-that's true." Jason sighed. "I'll ask him."

"I would appreciate it very much, Jason."

I went with Jason this time. Jeromey had to keep up appearances, so he couldn't just refuse challenges from fans, and he had a very busy afternoon ahead of him, and Rosie had to go with Mr. Richmond for the opening of a new "Fossil Fighter Tech" exhibit at the Fossil Museum, so I elected to accompany Jason.

"Hey... dad." Jason said as he approached his father.

"Hello, son, just the person I was looking for. Listen, I've decided to let you become a Fossil Fighter, when you're thirty." Mr. Nick Nack smiled and nodded, like he was making an offer Jason couldn't refuse. I raised an eyebrow in inquisition at Jason, but he waved me off.

"That's great, dad. I need to talk to you, too."

"Oh? Whatever about?"

"Um, have you seen anyone... strange... lately? Maybe asking you to help them find some... rare... collector's items?"

"Oh, many people ask that of me, could you be more specific?"

"Um, anyone asking about... some kind of strange... idols?"

"Well... remember those Idols I told you Dr. Diggins was collecting last summer?"

"Yes." Jason said, hopefully, and dreading the answer.

"Well, apparently, he sold them or something, but wanted them back. He came by and asked me to locate them. Luckily, I already knew where they were. King Dynal himself told me! I told him exactly where they all were."

"You told... Dr. Diggins?"

"Yes!"

"But he already knew where they were!" I exclaimed.

"I know, Duna." Jason said, white in the face.

"Oh. I didn't know that. Then that was not Dr. Diggins I was talking to?"

"No, Dad, it wasn't."

"Oh."

"Oh, and dad?"

"Yes?"

"I'm already a Fighter."

"Oh, I know."

"No, I mean I'm a Fossil Fighter."

"I know."

"But... why?"

"Well, I figured if I told you you could be a Fighter, you wouldn't want to anymore. I knew you'd love it, so I let you think I didn't want you being a Fighter yet, so you'd go on and do it anyway. I was going to tell you you could as soon as you became one, but by then, it was just too funny seeing your reaction!"

"Oh."

"Well, I'm sure you'll be just fine. Now go out there and make me proud."

Jason nodded, then turned to walk away.

"Oh, and Jason!" Mr. Nack said. Jason turned to face him. "I've decided you can become a Fossil Fighter when you're fifty!" Jason smiled back at him, and we left.

"So it _was_ Mr. Nack." Dr. Diggins sighed.

"He thought he was talking to you, Dr. Diggins." Jason said, defensively.

"I understand. No actions will be made against him, but at least now we know. But that's not the most pressing thing right now. Exliv has contacted us. He wants us to meet him at Mt. Lavaflow, where the last Sub-Idolcomp is hidden. Mr. Richmond himself had the Idol Sonar, but Exliv somehow duplicated it and has found the Idol, but he says he wants to give us a fair shot at keeping it, because of Jason's actions at Rivet Ravine."

Once everyone, including King Dynal, Mr. Richmond and Raptin, was gathered, we all headed for the last Sub-Idolcomp's hiding place in Mt. Lavaflow.

"Exliv." I muttered under my breath as he came into view. He was alone, except for two Dinomatons behind him. They were bronze, rather than silver or gold, and they looked very... as the humans say... "steampunk"? They were older models.

"King Dynal, Commander Duna, Lieutenant Raptin. Humans." Exliv nodded as we approached. "Young human. The one I spoke to in the mines. The boy." Jason stepped forward.

"Yes?"

"I did as you requested. I watched the King Dynal I've been following. I believe you are right. He is an imposter, which means that this King Dynal" He gestured towards King Dynal, "is the real one. My King, I apologize for my actions, but the imposter already has three of the four Sub-Idolcomps. However, we can prevent him from getting this one. I apologize for my trickery in the message, but I had to make sure the false King Dynal was not listening in."

"I understand. There is something we discovered as well." King Dynal said, then motioned for me to speak.

"Exliv..." I said, then stepped forward and looked him in the eyes. I gasped at what I saw.

"It... It can't be..."

"What is it, Duna?" King Dynal asked. I went into Battle Mode and sprayed Naithis with water. I changed back and watched as the 44 above his left eye washed away, leaving his forehead bare.

"He's not a clone." I said aloud. "He's the real Naithis Kahmp." Everyone gasped in confusion behind me at the revelation. Exl-... no, Naithis, was just as confused.

"Very good, Duna." I heard a voice, then stepped back as someone teleported in.

An army of golden Dinomatons appeared out of nowhere, concealing the speaker. They suddenly parted and let the false King Dynal walk through.

"I'm impressed. You figured it out." King Dynal smiled. He removed the disguise generator, and the hologram disappeared, revealing... Tirryx Gwonlan.

**(Ominous theme plays in the background.) As if you didn't see that one coming! Well, here's the end of the "Exliv Arc", and the prequel to the beginning of the "Tirryx Arc". Hope you enjoyed, and will continue to read!**


	8. Chapter 8

Fossil Fighters 1.1:

Revival of the Past

Chapter 8: Tirryx (Naithis's POV)

Discovering I am not, in fact, a clone, but the original Naithis Kahmp came as quite a shock, but discovering Tirryx Gwonlan was not only alive, but impersonating King Dynal XVI and attempting to erase humans from the face of the Earth, possibly for her own agenda, was by far the more surprizing.

"Tirryx." Duna said. "How did you survive? You disappeared in the middle of nowhere. The _Tyrannterprise_ was badly damaged and low on fuel. We were going to destroy the ship anyway after moving the Dinaurians to the other ships."

"I simply used the last of the fuel to change directions and propel myself and the stone-sleepers into deep space. Once the fuel ran out, our inertia and the lack of air resistance and friction got us all the way to an asteroid drifting through the Leonine system. I was able to convert the ship into a solar powered vessel with some special metallic alloys I found there. And, as you've probably guessed, I also managed to upgrade the revival machines for stone-sleepers, and revived Naithis, as well as the near fifty others. Of course, most of them had been mortally wounded, so they died out. But ten of them survived, and are loyal to me, for reviving them."

"How did you fool me into thinking I was a clone?" I asked.

"Hmm, dear Naithis. That was simple. When the Stone-Sleep Device malfunctioned, you took the strongest portion of the blast. You were all turned to stone, and unable to be revived, but even when I was able to revive you all, you alone had no memories."

The human girl in pink flushed. I got the feeling that she understood my sentiments to that idea all too well, as though she'd been through it herself.

"I learned of your amnesia, and took advantage of it. I told you you were a newly commissioned clone ready to recieve your mission. I had the number 44 tatooed on your forehead while you slept, and told you that if you got it wet, you'd short out and die. Couldn't risk the tatoo washing away, after all. Of course, for my ruse to be convincing, I had to insert a standard microchip into your brain so you would be, for all intents and purposes, a clone. It was very difficult to get the chip out of a clone. Clone LXXIX put up a fight, using three highly trained and expertly programmed Dinomatons. Then, I edited the data so you'd think Project: Mother Planet was still in effect and to accompany your natural ability to assume a Battle Form. But you are no clone. You are the real Naithis Kahmp. And as time goes by, you will remember everything. I shorted out your chip as soon as I saw your message to the humans. The chip was the only thing preventing your memories from returning. Now that it's no longer an issue for you, you'll begin remembering everything."

"Why tell us all of this?" I asked her.

"Because I have no use for you anymore. Now that you've allied yourself with them, whether you knew of your true identity or not, I no longer had your loyalty. That in itself made you useless to me. But still further, I no longer need you because you've lead me to the last Sub-Idolcomp."

Duna, Raptin and I growled, but King Dynal... the real King Dynal, remained calm.

"It matters not, Tirryx. Even with the Sub-Idolcomps, you do not have the Main Idolcomp. You've failed. You'll never get to it, for it is safely stowed aboard my personal flagship."

"Oh, Dynal. Excuse me, _King_ Dynal. You have much to learn. I allowed Naithis' message to go through because it called you, Raptin and Duna down here. Leaving only Dinomatons and worthless clones who can't even assume a Battle Form to defend your ship. As we speak, my loyal followers are using the teleportation device in Dr. Diggins' warehouse to board your ship and take the Main Idolcomp!" Tirryx roared triumphantly. "Yes, I watched everything from the sidelines last summer, and I know everything about every one of you!"

"Duna! Naithis! Raptin! To the ship!" King Dynal roared, and we activated our teleporters.

They glowed, and when the glow faded, we were... still in Mt. Lavaflow?

"Teleportation jammer." Lieutenant Raptin snarled.

"You didn't think I'd find a way to prevent you from reaching the ship in time, did you?" Tirryx sighed. "You always underestimated me. All of you did. Raptin was the brawn, the muscle. He was always the best fighter. Naithis was always the brain, the genius. He made so many technological innovations that helped preserve the future of the Dinaurian Race. And Duna, well, Duna was your favorite, _King_ Dynal. You always saw her as your daughter. The daughter you might have had if your betrothed hadn't perished on Mesozoia."

Tirryx's voice had grown louder and louder as she spoke, betraying her anger.

"What about _ME_?! I tested only ten points lower, if not less, than Naithis on every test I ever took, and I did half the work of every one of his innovations! Where was _my_ credit?! And I was always Raptin's equal in combat, were it not for his natural speed! He had an unfair advantage, being directly descended from a VELOCIRAPTOR! You know what Velociraptor means? It means SPEEDY THIEF! How appropriate. His speed gave him the means to _steal _ my spotlight and get all of the credit as a fighter. And I? I _am_ your daughter, _my king_! Yet you loved Duna more than you ever loved me!"

"Tirryx, it was never my intention to show favoritism towards either Naithis, Duna or Raptin. I was well aware of your accomplishments, and was very proud. I simply held you to a higher standard because you _are_ my daughter."

"Was. I was your daughter. No longer. I have surpassed your name. Now, not even the terrible Guhnash could hope to beat me, even if he were alive now. Human boy!" Tirryx shouted at the red-headed boy standing next to Duna. "I'm aware that you are the one who destroyed Guhnash. Such a feat should not go unrewarded. Therefore, I shall allow you to select ONE of your companions there, along with yourself, to live. All other humans, and dinaurians who do not pledge loyalty to me, shall be eradicated. I will be the single most famous Dinaurian of all time. My accomplishments will be remembered long after Naithis' are forgotten. I will always be remembered as the one who resurrected the Dinaurians!"

"The Seeds of Life are extinct!" The pink human girl shouted. "You can't revive the Dinaurians!"

"Oh, silly girl. Do you know what the Seeds of Life were? They were simply genetically engineered eggs with our earliest ancestors' DNA stored within them. When the eggs hatched, the creatures grew quickly and bred, becoming the dinosaurs you humans refer to them as. In time, if they'd survived, and under the right conditions, they would have evolved into the Dinaurians once more. By using the Regression Rays on both the Dinaurian clones which contain Naithis' DNA and the humans, the Dinaurians will become dinosaurs, and you humans will become... whatever silly creature you evolved from. Both species will have equal reign over this world, and over time, evolution will cause the dinosaurs and primates to once again evolve into Dinaurians and humans. And I will be the creator of both species'! Songs will be sung about me, and I will be hailed as a goddess!"

"You are a fool, Tirryx!" I shouted. "You just told us your plan!"

"You're the fool! I don't care if you know my plan, because there's nothing you can do to stop me! You're weak, Naithis. You don't stand a chance against me. Even King Dynal, my _father_, is but a fly for me to swat aside."

The humans started to summon their vivosaurs, but King Dynal waved them off.

"This is between the Dinaurians." He said. Dr. Diggins nodded and waved the other humans off. They set to work looking for the fourth Idolcomp.

"Battle Mode engage!" Tirryx shouted and leapt for Raptin. She morphed in mid-air and sank her teeth around his throat.

"Raptin!" Duna shouted and went into Battle Form.

I ran through everything I knew about Tirryx Gwonlan.

_ Fire-type fighter, weak against Water-types such as Duna, but effective against Earth-types such as myself, and with no elemental advantage or disadvantage against Neutral-types such as King Dynal, Air-types such as Raptin, or other Fire-types. Tirryx resembles a Guanlong in appearances, as her mother's clan was descended from the Tyrannosaurus. She's naturally skilled in combat, having inherited her father's fighting ability, and her IQ is nearly as high as mine, making her a very intelligent and skilled combatant. She focuses equally on the opponents in front of her and behind her, as well as off to either side. None of us can fly, so we have no chance of taking her from the air. Unless..._

Duna sprayed water at Tirryx, but she simply turned and put Raptin in front of her, using him as a shield to absorb the blow.

_Law 5: Never take elemental advantages/disadvantages for granted. Especially against a fighter such as Tirryx. Elements mean nothing if you can't hit your opponent._

Raptin went into Battle Form after recovering from his surprise, and brought his claw up in an arc and caught Tirryx in the eyes. Tirryx let go in a slight moment of pain, but recovered quickly.

Raptin started slashing wildly, using his speed to his advantage.

I broke down myself, Duna, Raptin and King Dynal as well, searching for a strategy to defeat Tirryx.

_Raptin Dinon: Air-type fighter. No elemental relationship to Tirryx. Family descended from raptors, Raptin takes the form of a Velociraptor. Average intelligence, but excells in combat, particularly when supported by two Dinomatons, though works well with other Dinaurians as well. Strongest statistic is speed, and Raptin understands this, using it to his advantage, though physical strength is exceptional as well. Does not rely heavily on battle abilities, focusing almost solely on claw-to-claw combat, though uses powers when necessary. Poison is an effective asset._

_ Duna Nichs: Water-type fighter. Effective against Fire-types, though is slow enough that Tirryx can easily dodge her powers unless caught by surprise. Counter-attacking is her specialty, drawing her opponents in closely and countering most attacks they throw at her, forcing her opponent to take the damage from their own attacks. Average statistics all around, but reasoning skills are off the charts, allowing her to change tactics easily if need be. Relies heavily on confusion skills. Takes the form of a Deltadromeus._

_ King Dynal XVI: Neutral-type fighter. No elemental relationships, making him adequate against all elements, and leaving him vulnerable to none. Takes the form of a Baryonyx in combat. Well-rounded side effects with excite and poisoning skills. Brute strength is essential to fighting strategy, as is colossal proportions, leaving him towering over almost every opponent. However, altough he is, out of the four of us, by far the most powerful and effective fighter, he carries an emotional attachment to Tirryx, and is hesitant to harm her in any way._

_ Naithis Kahmp: Earth-type fighter. Weak against Tirryx's Fire-type powers, and I have no special skills to support myself in combat. Though I am almost as fast as Raptin, I am smaller than Tirryx in combat, having taken the form of a Compsognathus. I rely heavily upon my superior intellect, which allows me to analyze my opponent and myself to form an effective strategy that is almost certain to defeat my opponent._

_ So. Raptin is a close-combat fighter, using speed to his advantage. Plus, he is neither strong nor weak against Tirryx. She'll expect him to engage her directly, but if I tell him to do so, she'll expect it to be some kind of trick, setting Duna up to hit her full-force with her water abilities, and possibly cause confusion. Knowing that she's faster and stronger than Duna, Tirryx will be able to evade any attack by Duna and easily overtake her, therefore, Duna is physically inadequate to take Tirryx on directly, though Tirryx will expect Duna's counter-attacking abilities. Confusion will throw Tirryx off. Dynal would be unwise to participate in this battle because of his emotional attachment to Tirryx, though his excite skills would prove useful. It seems that in order to defeat Tirryx, I'll need to violate Law 8: Never rely completely on your allies. I will prove completely ineffective against Tirryx in both physicality and elemental property, and no doubt she's analyzing us as well, making me only partially effective against her intellectually._

I looked Duna, then Raptin in the eyes, conveying with but a look my strategy. It was a skill we'd had before I was sealed in stone-sleep, one we'd naturally picked up while we were on the same squad.

Raptin rushed in and attacked Tirryx directly, occupying her with dodging as many of his lightning-fast attacks as possible, wary of his poison. At the same time, she watched Duna from the corner of her eyes.

Duna applied her counter-armor and sprayed Tirryx again. Tirryx dodged it again, then turned on Duna.

Raptin planted himself between Tirryx and Duna, protecting her, leading Tirryx to believe that Duna was the primary combatant in my strategy.

I quickly assumed my Battle Form and de-linked my teleporter from Tirryx's hideout, allowing me to teleport freely. I teleported above her and dove straight for her blind spot, directly behind her head, where her crown prevented her from seeing me in her peripheral vision.

I was almost on top of her, about to slam her into the ground so Raptin and Duna could hit her with everything they had, but something was different with her from the last time I fought her. She was smarter.

She slid to a stop and kicked out, slamming Raptin into Duna, then raised her head, her mouth open, and bit into my tail as I came down.

She slammed me into the ground, then hit me full-force with a blazing inferno from her mouth. I was a very powerful fighter, especially when it came to strategizing. But I was powerless. Her fire hit me directly in the chest, and I couldn't hold on. I fainted, losing my Battle Form, and the world melted away.

**What happens next? Tell me in a review, if you think you can guess! Also, you will more than likely notice that the cover image for this story has changed. The new image is Tirryx' Battle Form. Badass, no?**


	9. Chapter 9

Fossil Fighters 1.1:

Revival of the Past

Chapter 9: Ichus (Raptin's POV)

Tirryx easily overpowered Naithis, Duna and I, much to our humiliation. We are the elite force of the Dinaurian Armada, and one of our own defeated all three of us with little effort. Of course, she also defeated her own father, King Dynal, so the humiliation was lessened. How could a mere squadron of three Dinaurians overtake an enemy strong enough to defeat King Dynal?

Tirryx took the final Sub-Idolcomp, but her underlings failed to acquire the Main Idolcomp from the Mother Ship, thanks to recent upgrades made to the Dinomatons. The robots held them off long enough for us to recuperate and get to the ship in order to stop them.

"Our only concern now is keeping the Main Idolcomp safe. The Sub-Idolcomps are utterly useless without the Main Idolcomp, and vice versa. The Main Idolcomp is like a lock on a door, and the Sub-Idolcomps are the keys." Naithis explained to the humans, forgetting that they already knew about the Idolcomps.

"Naithis, much has occured since your sleep." King Dynal said. "For one, the humans are privvy to almost everything we Dinaurians know. Of course, we witheld some information, though nothing really of consequence."

"Of course, my King. I apologize for mistaking you all for ignorants." Naithis apologized to the humans.

"Don't worry about it. You've been in a coma of sorts for a while." Dr. Diggins said cheerily.

"In any case, we should make protecting the Main Idolcomp our number one priority. If Tirryx gets her hands on the Main, everything is lost. Everything the Dinaurians as well as the humans have worked for, both separately and as a whole, will be for naught. Regression rays will rain from the sky and revert every living creature to its earliest evolutionary form possible without going too far back and turning them all into microorganisms once more. Armageddon, as you humans call it, will occur."

"We are well aware of the situation, Naithis." Dr. Diggins explained. Naithis cringed. He obviously felt guilty for his actions, and did not like being in the dark. None of us, him included, knew what was going to happen.

"How would you suggest we go about protecting the Main Idolcomp, Commander Naithis?" King Dynal asked.

Naithis paused.

"What is it?"

"I apologize, my King, I'm simply not accustomed to being the same rank as Duna. Much time has passed for her to become Commander. I'm used to being at least one rank above her."

"Understandable, but you will have to grow accustomed to the changes that have occured."

"Yes, my King."

"How should we protect the Main Idolcomp?"

"I do not know."

Duna, King Dynal and I simply stared at him as he sat down in a chair and buried his face in his hands. He groaned in disappointment at himself.

"I just don't know. Somehow, Tirryx has become almost as smart as I am, if not smarter. Nothing I can think of would prove too difficult for her to break through. I've thought of force shields, but all she'd need to do is hack the ship's computers, which she's obviously figured out how to do, if she's gotten her underlings onto the ship. I've thought of setting up traps, but she's fast enough she could avoid them all. I've thought of high-intensity light-rays to slice through anything that touches them, but not only could she easily deactivate them by hacking into the ship's computers, but they pose just as great a threat to us as they do to her. I've even considered placing a holographic duplicate of the Main Idolcomp in the computer room in the real one's place, and hiding the Main Idolcomp somewhere else, but she can track the Main Idolcomp through the Subs-Idolcomps. I've run every possible situation in my mind and I'm drawing a blank. I'm absolutely clueless." He was shaking. I knew myself what it felt like to be completely useless. After the Guhnash crisis, King Dynal had forbidden me from assuming my Battle Form, and therefore could not do anything to assist anyone with anything. It was only recently that I had been allowed to assume my Battle Form again.

"Don't despair, Naithis. We'll think of something." King Dynal said softly.

"What if we were to destroy the Main Idolcomp?" Dr. Diggins asked.

"WHAT?!" Duna, myself, King Dynal and Naithis all cried.

"Well, if we destroyed the Main Idolcomp, then the Sub-Idolcomps would be useless, and Tirryx would be unable to use the regression rays."

"Yes, but all of our knowledge would be lost. Everything we know is on the Main Idolcomp. We can't just destroy all of our knowledge." Naithis explained, trying to be patient.

"Well, tell me, have you ever forgotten anything?" Dr. Diggins asked.

"No, I don't think so." Naithis answered. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, I've never forgotten anything myself, either. We humans have a name for a memory like that. It's called an Eidetic Memory. Maybe you and I could look at all of the data on the Main Idolcomp. That way, none of your knowledge would be lost. We could translate it all to English and store the knowledge in Earth computers."

"The sheer quantity of knowledge stored in the Main Idolcomp is too large for either of us, alone or together, to store. It would take many others for that to work. More than I believe we should inform about the Main Idolcomp. And the clones of myself will learn everything I learn as I learn it, and they can only take as much knowledge as I can, which may be substantial, but still is not even a fraction of the knowledge stored in the Main Idolcomp."

"Well, there goes that idea. Any others?" Dr. Diggins asked, hopefully.

"The only thing I can think of is setting up a guard around the Main Idolcomp at all times, and a large one at that." Duna suggested.

"Well, the only guard large enough to protect against Tirryx would be all of the clones, all of the Dinomatons, and everyone here." Naithis said. "And even that might not be enough, but Tirryx won't chance it. She's patient. She'll wait us out, and only come for it once we drop our guard. No, I think the only way we'll finish this is to kill Tirryx."

King Dynal flinched at the thought.

"Something keeps bothering me." Jeromey said.

"What is it?" Dr. Diggins asked.

Everyone turned to the human boy.

"Well, during the fight at Mt. Lavaflow, Tirryx totally flattened Raptin and Naithis, and even King Dynal, but, to me, it seemed like she was holding back against Duna. Like she didn't actually want to hurt her. Then, once the battle was over, once she even beat all of our vivosaurs, even Ignosaurus, I saw her glance back at Duna, and she looked sad, like she regretted having to hurt her."

"Hmm... curious." Dr. Diggins said, and Naithis agreed.

"Well, for a long time, she and I were practically sisters." Duna said.

"Practically? Please, you two couldn't have been separated with a blaster." I said, chuckling to myself.

"Fair enough. The only thing missing between us was blood. And that couldn't have made us any closer. Even before Guhnash destroyed Mesozoia, and before my parents died, we were inseparable. She was the one who convinced King Rexxus, King Dynal's predecessor, to take me in. She often said we were more each other's family than I was my parents' daughter."

"Well, that could have had something to do with the fact that you were adopted." King Dynal said.

"True. I guess I resented that to some degree." Duna sighed.

"Wait, you were adopted?" Jeromey asked.

"Yes. I told you that, didn't I?"

"No. I had no idea."

"Hm. Well, it's true. I never knew my biological parents. I used to, after my adopted parents died, imagine that King Dynal and his wife were my bilogical parents, and that I'd finally found my real family. It was silly, and obviously untrue, I don't even remotely resemble King Dynal or Tirryx in the least, but at least part of it was true. I had found my true family, whether biological or not. I kept the name 'Nichs', however, because it was the one I'd grown up knowing, and I can't just give it up."

"Understandably." King Dynal replied. "But I agree with Duna. Tirryx must still somewhat see Duna as her sister, and that is why she held back. If that is the case, then we may have just found her weakness."

"I doubt that." I said. "If Duna were Tirryx's weakness, then she wouldn't have harmed Duna at all. Instead, she simply chose a gentler mode of defeating Duna."

"That may be, but it's all we have to go on." Just then, a loud explosion could be heard from outside the Fossil Center. We all hurried out to find the source of the noise, and saw people running in all directions, screaming. The harbor was on fire, and scorch marks decorated the ground. Duna, Naithis, King Dynal and I went into Battle Mode as we saw the cause of the commotion. Five Dinaurians, obviously Tirryx's followers, were rampaging through the street.

I recognized them all.

Cera Rytahp was the head of her clan when Naithis' mission to study Guhnash failed. The head of the Rytahp clan, a family descended from the relatives of the Triceratops. Cera had blue hair similar to that of the Tricera vivosaurs I'd seen around Fossil Island, and yellow markings on her face. As the head of her clan, she wore her clan relic, a circlet around her head with three spikes sticking straight up around the circlet. Pure gold. She was walking around in her common form, not bothering to use her Battle Form. She was imposing enough without it, anyway.

Al Therrys was the second in command of the Therrys clan, the brother of former King Rexxus IX. He dressed similar to King Dynal, but his robes were black as opposed to King Dynal's blue robe. He assumed his Battle Form as soon as he saw King Dynal, a humongous Allosaurus.

Percy Brakkios took the form of a Supersaurus, and was using his long neck and Earth powers to smash everything around him.

Sy Klubbtayl wasn't the head of his clan, but he was physically the strongest. He took the form of a Saichania while in Battle Form, and he and another Fire-elemental were setting the island ablaze.

And the other Fire-elemental was one I definitely recognized.

Ichus. Ichus Dinon. My elder brother. As my elder brother, he inherited my father's position of head of the Dinon clan, and was now wearing the clan relic, a golden collar fitted just under his jawbone, gems embedded in it in the front: a ruby, a topaz, an emerald, a saphire and a white diamond in the center of the circle of gems, representing each of the five elements, and strengthening any member of the Dinon clan that wore it. My brother took the form of a Deinonychus. He noticed me and grinned wickedly.

We'd never had the best relationship as brothers. As the eldest of my three brothers, one of which died on Mesozoia the day Guhnash came, he thought himself superior to us, and demanded we treat him with respect, showing no respect to us himself. As kids, he'd always taken my playthings for himself, and gave them back broken, if he gave them back at all. When we reached our teenage years, he was constantly trying to ruin any chances I had with any girls, even attempting to seduce Duna when he found I'd taken an interest in her.

He always had to outdo me, always stole my answers to tests at the Academy, and changed the ones on my sheets so I'd get some wrong. If I advanced quickly, it was only because of my physical fitness, because of my brother's interference, but he advanced still quicker because he was physically stronger, even if I was faster.

But he'd been trapped in stone-sleep for millenia now, and I'd been training relelntlessly. We were definitely on more even footing now, if I didn't have the advantage.

He phased out of his Battle Form and walked up to me.

"Hello, Brother." He said with a sneer.

"Ichus." I growled.

"Oh, why the long face, Raptin? Aren't you glad to see your dear older brother?"

"I'll be glad to see you dead."

Of course, my grudge against my brother was stronger than just sibling rivalry. My brother was true to his element, a very fierry temper. And one day, my parents angered him, and he lashed out in anger. It was an accident, he hadn't been in control, but my parents had died because of it. And I still hated him because of it, especially since he showed no signs of remorse.

"Oh, come now. Surely you can't mean that."

"I do. You killed our parents, Ichus."

"It was an accident."

"You show no remorse. You take pride in the fact that you were powerful enough to do it with little effort, whether you meant to do it or not."

"True enough. But I'd like to apologize for my actions, dear brother."

"There's not a word you can say that will soothe my fury."

"Then kill me." I was stunned. "I mean it. One free shot. Anywhere you want, you can even put your claw through my chest, and rip out my heart. Kill me." I saw truth in Ichus' eyes. I could attack him however I wished, and he would not raise so much as a claw to stop me or dodge my attack. I could behead him, tear him limb from limb, rip out any organ I wished, kill him in the most vile and painful ways imaginable, and he'd just let me.

But he knew I'd never do it.

"Any way I want?" I asked.

"Any way you want."

I gazed around. King Dynal was fighting his uncle. Duna was fighting Cera and Naithis was also engaged in combat with Percy Brakkios. The humans were busy helping the other humans to escape while holding off Sy Klubbtayl and another Dinaurian that I hadn't noticed, mainly because Tara Crestyd took the form of a Pteranodon and was flying around, using Wind attacks to rip things apart.

No one was watching anyone else. No one would see me strike my brother down. No one would ever know. Except me.

I phased into my Battle Form and charged my brother, who was surprized at my actions. He hadn't expected me to actually do it. In the moment just before I struck, I saw fear in his eyes. I was too fast, he'd never be able to stop me or dodge in time. His doom had arrived.

He gave in and closed his eyes, ready to accept death.

I was satisfied. I phased out and instead of my razor-sharp claws, my fist connected with his face, sending him flying backwards and crashing into a tree.

He got up in surprize and laughed half-heartedly.

"I knew you wouldn't do it. I was doubtful when you moved, it looked like you would actually follow through, but I still somehow knew you wouldn't be able to bring yourself to kill me. Not when I don't even raise a claw to defend myself." He laughed again. "You're weak, Raptin."

"No, Ichus. You're wrong. I _was_ going to kill you. I could have. I was going to. But then, my satisfaction came in a different form."

"Oh?" He scoffed. "And what form might that be?"

"Fear."

"Hah! So you were simply afraid of the consequences!"

"No. Not my fear. No one was watching. I could have told everyone that I killed you in combat, that I was simply stronger than you, and that I had no choice. There would have been no repercussions. I meant your fear, Ichus. Before I struck, I saw fear flash across your eyes. All my life, I've been trying to match you. To be your equal. But in that moment, when I saw _your_ fear, that you were _afraid of me_, I was satisfied. _You_ were at _my _mercy this time, not the other way around. I have not become your equal. I have surpassed you. And now, with that knowledge, and that you know it's true, you are now even more inferior to me. You have two choices, Ichus. You can fight me in a desperate attempt to prove me wrong, just as I was desperate to prove you wrong all those years before Guhnash. You can fail, and possibly die as a result of your stubborn-ness. Or, you can surrender. You can give me the relic, and recognize _me_ as the head ofthe Dinon clan due to your inferiority, and you can pledge your loyalty to me, and help us defeat Tirryx."

"I always despised Tirryx Gwonlan." My brother said, looking down. "I never liked her, always got a bad feeling from her." His head jerked up at me. "But you cannot defeat her. She's too strong. You'll die, or be forced to be her slave, or simply be regressed. I am not loyal to her, but I fear her. I'm no fool. I will not die to defeat her, knowing that I'd fail anyway. You can do me one mercy, however. I will give you the collar, willingly. You will be the new head of the Dinon clan. But you must promise to kill me. Do not let me die at the hands of Tirryx for my betrayal."

"No. I will not kill you, Ichus. I have given you your choices. Choose now."

My brother's eyes were pleading for mercy, but I refused to back down.

"Then I choose death in combat." He said, and he charged me in Battle Form. I morphed as well, and met his attack with one of my own. I swept his claws aside and kicked out at him, sending him flying back into the same tree. I charged, and suddenly had my claws around his throat, just enough to hold him there, not enough to strangle him. I used my other claws to rip the collar off of his throat and put it around my neck.

"No." I said. "You will not die. I win. Swear fealty to me, and serve me loyally, Ichus. My grudge is forgiven, and I hereby restore your honor, forgiving you of all misdeeds. Swear to me." I growl to show him how serious I am.

"Please don't do this, Brother."

"Ichus!"

"I swear it!" Ichus shouted, and I released him. I felt the power of the collar wash over me in waves. I lifted my head to the sky and roared, and all heads turned to look at me. I swept my gaze over Vivosaur Town and spotted Jeromey, Jason, Dr. Diggins and Rosie all holding back Tara and Sy. I charged them and launched into a flurry of attacks at Tara. When she flew into the air, I crouched and waited. She swooped down and tried to defeat me with a dive-bomb, but I lashed out with Reaper's Wrath, and she went down with poison, phasing out and clutching her stomach.

Jeromey summoned Ignosaurus and defeated Sy with it just as Duna finished off Cera.

She ran over to me and phased out, and we watched King Dynal and Naithis fight their opponents. King Dynal finished his uncle, and Al Therrys went down. We all watched Naithis fight his opponent, who was easily a hundred times his size,if not greater, but Naithis was so small and fast that Percy couldn't even find him, let alone defeat him.

Naithis finished Percy off with a Sandstorm directly to the face, then a Gamma Ray team skill that sent Percy flying into the ocean. They both phased out, and Naithis went and rescued Percy from drowning.

But the damage was done.

Ichus looked at me and spoke.

"I should have told you this, Brother, but we were a diversion. Tirryx herself has gone to the Mother Ship and captured the Main Idolcomp, with the rest of the Dinaurians under her to fight off the clones and Dinomatons."

"What?!" King Dynal shouted.

**Well, I'd really appreciate some reviews.**


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